Spirit of the Heart
by Dragon's Tongue
Summary: The cast of Shaman King and other anime and video game characters in Kingdom Hearts! Chapter nine up.
1. Act 1: In search of a friend

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Shaman King, Yu-gi-oh, or any of the anime, video games, or their characters or aspects that are featured in this fanfic. I use Yu-gi-oh! dub names, but not necessarily attacks. In an unintended, ironic way, I use Shaman King Japanese names, but dubbed attacks. Thank you for reading this fic; I hope you will be patient for my schedule to allow updates. Enjoy!

Italics are stressed words, techniques, object names, thoughts, or ethereal voices. Bold text is writing or highly stressed words. Underlined text is used only in incredibly stressed words or dialogue with more than one voice speaking.

**00000**

Light slowly filled his eyes, the soft sounds of the seas assuring him he was home. His normally peace-filled mind was still troubled by the dream he had just experienced: A strange series of platforms... his friends asking him questions about life... a voice that called to him, telling him not to worry (as if he needed help there), and a towering shadow that dragged him into darkness...

He was pulled out of his daze by a sharp choking sensation around his neck, and a curt girl's voice. "Your break ended five minutes ago, Yoh!"

Though not normally bearing a hairstyle filled with sand or the long chain of beads cutting off his air, Yoh Asakura was more or less used to it. His hair was arranged in a strange, unkempt series of brown angles, and a pair of orange headphones covered his ears. A white, unbuttoned shirt revealed his bare chest, while a pair of green pants led to sandal-covered feet. His eyes were brown and, though now wide with the sudden shock, normally portrayed a sleepy, serene look.

Getting to his feet quickly after the noose was lifted, he took several deep breaths before grinning sheepishly. "Sorry I overslept again, Anna. Manta was supposed to wake me up, though... ."

The girl who sighed at this response was slightly shorter than Yoh, but the serious look in her dark eyes made her seem more imposing. She wore a one-piece black dress, with a smaller necklace around her neck, and a long, red bandana over her short blonde hair.

"He's cleaning our house, like he has been since an hour before your break" Anna explained, sounding annoyed "and we're still short on supplies for the boat, so get back to gathering."

Yoh nodded, still looking confused, which caught his trainer's eye.

"Something wrong?"

"I just... had a weird dream. Something about keys, doors, and light... but it felt really real!"

"If that's your best excuse for slacking off, you really need more sleep" **a**nother annoyed voice declared. Yoh turned to see a teenager around his height, wearing a sleeveless red shirt and black jeans. His hair was a dark purple, and even more unnatural in its back, which was a perfect, singular diagonal spike into the air. His expression matched his voice, but his yellow eyes showed more of a humorous light than usual.

"The same could be said about both of you, Ren." Anna countered. "The two of you fight as much as you complain about my training."

The more serious boy glared at her, then turned to Yoh again. "I've finished my half of the raft, and half of your girlfriend's part-" he dodged the chain of beads from the mentioned girl before continuing"-so if you can just find a few logs, a rope, and a cloth, we can call it a day."

Yoh grinned again, his worry decreasing. "Thanks, Ren. We meet at the small island at sunset, right?"

The two nodded and dashed back to their assigned search locations. Anna merely shook her head, hidinga grin under her frown. "Building a raft to go to other worlds... insane."

**XX0XX**

_Ryumasa the Ryuhaitou presents..._

_Spirit of the Heart._

**00X00**

It was a few hours later when the three sat atop the small island adjacent to the shore, two of them exhausted from collecting and putting together a raft for three. Ren was sitting on the edge, his legs dangling over the water several feet below, while Yoh and Anna were sitting on the bent tree beside him.

"Anna?" Ren suddenly said, the orange light of the sinking sun mixing with his amber eyesWould you mind if I asked something?"

"Is it in any way related to another week off?" she asked from her spot on the tree, lazily leaning on Yoh. From a young age, the two had been engaged by their parents, though Yoh didn't seem to care that much, and she was comfortable using it as means of control. She had been training Yoh and Ren to fight for years, a daily hobby that started when they were children, though none of them remembered why.

"This was hardly a week off from your hellish training... but no. I wanted to know why you even agreed to this. It's hardly logical enough for me, let alone you, to agree to it, and I was sure you would refuse."

"Yeah!" Yoh remarked, interested as well. "I was confused enough when Ren thought of building a raft, but why did you agree to go with us?"

She sat straight up again, glaring at the two of them. "Because you two would either kill yourselves or each other trying to do anything without me. Isn't that reason enough?"

Ren grunted, turning back to the sun. "Perhaps..."

"How about you, Ren?" Yoh inquired curiously. "Why did you even think of it? The phrase to see other worlds wasn't very informing."

"Well... look around."

The sharper eyed one stood up, and his rival and trainer soon followed, as the two boys' eyes trailed over their surroundings. "What do you see that's different from usual?"

"Uh... nothing."

"Exactly" Ren agreed, frowning. "The same old island... same houses, same beaches, same everything! Fourteen years on this world, and nothing's happened that hasn't happened a thousand times before! I know there are greater things out there... greater experiences... greater challenges... and more freedom."

He cast a scalding glare at Anna, who yawned, used to it.

"I don't believe our possible suicide or murder attempts are your greatest concern for this journey. Everyone knows you weren't born here on the island, even though this island is all we know to exist!"

The teenage girl suddenly walked past him, startling the two. "It's getting late. Both of you get some rest; we still have to get food ready tomorrow!"

Dumbstruck, Yoh was the first to respond. "Was she mad?"

"...maybe. It seems impossible that she'd be angered by something like that, though..."Ren shrugged. Wordlessly, he grabbed a fruit from the tree, and started the walk to his house. Yoh glanced at the other star-shaped fruits on the tree with slight confusion, then quickly followed Anna's route.

**00000**

Later that night, or, in this case, day, several worlds away, a tall figure walked through the halls of a pristine castle. He had strictly controlled brown hair, piercing blue eyes, and wore a long, white duster over a red shirt, the former of which was laced with silver, dragon-shaped patterns. In his right hand was a long, grey staff, which ended in the shape of a hat that was purple and pink-striped. He didn't seem to notice the line of purple-robed skeletons walking by him, carrying buckets of water.

He stopped at door so massive it nearly hit the ceiling, and tapped six times on the large handle. A small section near him opened, revealing the actual door, and he walked in, taking in the empty throne room.

"I've got the reports as you instructed, sir." He began, looking down as his pulled a stack of papers from his coat, his voice echoing in the room. "Mahado has the new Gummi design up and running, the Skull Servants are all working as ordered, and-"

He looked up, and his eyes widened as he saw the throne accompanied by a small creature, made mostly of brown fur, whose two green eyes were closed in content as it cooed from the cushy seat.

"Kuriboh?" He shouted, waking the creature up, which flew to him quickly. "Where's King Y-"

A letter fell onto his head as the furball zoomed away, bonking into the huge door a few times before dizzily leaving through the correct spot. Opening it quickly, his eyes widened further and further as he read.

A few minutes later, a blonde-haired young man was sleeping in a nearby garden, surrounded by expertly made designs of varying creatures as well as one of the castle. He was wearing a full suit of armor, which was partly why he opened his golden-brown eyes, as he heard a hat-shaped staff clanging against his helmet.

"Wha...I ...Kaiba?" He yawned, stretching before relaxing again. "It's too early ta' argue right now..."

"You can get up before I electrify your tin-covered, steel-plated skull, if you want."

Instantly on his feet, the knight snarled at the mage. "Sheesh, what's your problem?"

"It's OUR problem, Joey." Kaiba explained, handing him the note. "Read this and meet me at the Gummi station in an hour, and DON'T tell ANYONE!"

Joey blinked. "Uh, okay... we goin' somewhere?"

Kaiba was silent for a few seconds, and Joey stepped back as his eyes shone furiously." Yes, you could say that. If sneaking out before Queen Tea or Ishizu sees us counts as preparing for a vacation!"

"Really?" A new voice asked, familiar and stopping Kaiba in his tracks. Turning to see the two he had just mentioned, he cast a weak lightning spell on the knight behind him.

**XXXXX**

Yoh stretched, still waking up as he stepped into a small cove the next day. Ren was already there, carefully examining a large amount of mushrooms.

"We have the ship ready to leave at a moment's notice. Well, once we find food, anyway." Ren explained to his friend, standing up, a suspicious smirk on his face. "All we need now is a name. I suggest we name it the _Tao_, since I came up with the idea."

Yoh snorted. "Yeah, great idea. That way we can blame it on your family if the boat just falls apart at sea."

Snarling at his rival, Ren countered. "Well, what would you name it?"

" ... _Harusame_." He answered after a few seconds.

"Yoh, that's what you named that fish we caught before it got away. And the bird we healed before it flew into a tree. And the sand castle before the tidal wave. And-"

"Or, we could decide the usual way." Yoh interrupted, causing both of them to grin confidently. Anna sighed from her reclining spot against the side wall. "Fine, I'll be the judge of your little race."

"First one to the star on the ledge and back wins, as usual." Ren reminded.

"Right! And to make it more interesting, how about the winner becomes captain!" Yoh suggested.

"I'M the captain. "Anna said as she neared her position, destroying that thought.

As the two lined up, Yoh slightly disappointed, Ren smirked again. "Actually, I have something better in mind... how about the winner uses this with Anna?"

Yoh blinked as Ren revealed the fruit he had taken yesterday." Uh... what's that?"

"A Paopu fruit. Any couple that shares one become eternally connected to each other." He whispered.

"WHAT?"

"On your marks," Anna started, not hearing Ren's statement," Get set..."

Before he forgot, Yoh got into position, still startled but determined not to lose focus. "GO!"

Anna watched the two of them race, her trained eye noting their improvements. She sighed as Yoh nearly fell from the cliff with the star, but blinked in surprise as he grabbed the edge, flipped onto the platform, and briefly touched the star before leaping over a startled Ren. The two continued trying to cut each other off the entire way as they leapt from treetop to treetop, and Yoh finally managed to get ahead just in time to finish the race.

Panting heavily, Yoh glanced at his friend, who was frowning. "There wasn't any need to act so rashly; I was only joking."

Yoh facefaulted, before Anna stepped up to him. "Ren lost, so he can gather most of the things we need. Unfortunately, these mushrooms he found are poisonous. If you can get yourself up, grab some from the old cave."

A few minutes later, the brown-haired boy trudged toward the mentioned cave, still nursing his slightly hurt pride. However, his mood lifted as he entered the cool, stony room, looking around at the many carved shapes and symbols.

He pocketed a large number of fresh-looking mushrooms, and was about to leave, before he noticed one carving in particular... an old one, of two childish faces, one grinning sheepishly with wildly spiked hair, the other with closed eyes and a bandana. Blushing as he remembered the day it had been carved, he picked up a small stone, and over the course of a few moments, added an arm holding a star-shaped fruit to his own caricature.

"Well, at least Anna never comes in here... so she won't see and then kill-"

_"We're connected now."_

Yoh's head turned, along with the rest of him, to view a startling shape; someone around his height, completely covered in a dark robe, was standing near the strange door that was seemingly carved into the wall.

"Wha...what?"

_"We're tied together, your world, my world, and others..."_ The mysterious one continued, and Yoh shivered as he realized how eerily similar the stranger's voice was to his. _"Soon all will be shrouded in flames of darkness..."_

"Who are you?" Yoh asked, slightly angered at the lack of manners and frightening attitude of the stranger. "Where did you come-" His eyes widened as he looked at the door. "From in _there?_ It opened?"

_"...so, you don't know what's behind that door?"_ Asked the shadowed one. His unseen head shook, and a chuckle came from the hood. _"You're worse off than I imagined. Even less knowledgeable than I thought ..."_

With an uncharacteristic growl, Yoh retorted, "Hey! Just because I don't know a lot of things, doesn't mean it'll always be that way! I'll learn a lot as soon as I see other places!"

A tense silence came before the unknown face replied. _"I highly doubt that. _They_ didn't learn when they saw the unusual... but maybe I'm wrong..."_

Yoh looked to the door and back again, but in that split second, the mysterious man had vanished.

_"You're so small..."_

Hours later, he and Anna were back at the same spot as yesterday. After a long couple of moments of just being there, Yoh still confused over what had happened that day and over his own earlier thoughts, Anna stated," Ren's different, isn't he?"

"Huh? Well, yeah, I guess... he speaks a lot less, he smiles more, he's actually told a few jokes since he thought up this raft idea.."

Anna stood, walking to the edge of the small isle and staring at the sunset. "I've thought about it since yesterday... and I've decided he was partially right. I do want to see if I have a home out there..."

Yoh smiled, copying her movements and standing beside her. "And I'll be there to meet your real parents with you! Of course, that might mean they'll want to speed up the engagement... maybe I should just stay behind when that day comes."

"Or, we could just take the raft and go...right now, alone!"

Yoh froze in place, stiff as a board against his prearranged fiance. She glared at him, though he didn't see the faint blush on her cheeks. "I'm joking, idiot. Besides, we'll need Ren if we ever have any trouble ."

She walked past him, for some reason looking angry, and Yoh slowly turned his head back to watch her go. He rubbed his still throbbing head, more confused than ever, and followed her, again, to their home.

**00000**

The royal library was roughly the size of the throne room, but looked smaller due to the massive lines of books on every wall and shelf. In the center of it all, however, in the empty space, stood Kaiba, Joey, and two others. Queen Tea was slightly shorter than Joey with neck-length brown hair and blue eyes, wearing a regal fuchsia dress. To her side was Ishizu, Kaiba's height and tanned, with blue-tinged black hair and an Egyptian style dress.

At the moment though, all four were concentrated on the details of a single letter...

**Dear Seto, or, if you still insist, High Mage General Kaiba;**

**More and more worlds are being destroyed each day. I'm sure you've noticed how few the stars have become since that day when he left, and you and I both know something needs to be done. There's something called a 'key'; the key to saving us from destruction. I need you and Joey to go to Traverse Town and try to find the person with this key. Ask for a man named Regal Bryant; he can help. I'll be back as soon as I can! Sincerely, Y.**

**(P.S. Apologize to Tea for me.)**

Seto Kaiba sighed as Ishizu finished reading the note aloud. "Well, any idea what it means?"

"Nothing. My powers have decreased since then, Kaiba, as you know. The future is too clouded for me to tell... " Ishizu answered.

Queen Tea smiled sadly. "I'm sure the King knows what to do.. he always does. We just have to have faith in him."

"But what about that key thingy?" Joey asked. "Shouldn't we try and find it.?"

"Exactly what I was going to command you to do." Tea agreed. "And, to chronicle your travels..." She struck harshly at her neck, then flung a tiny, flat thing into Kaiba's hand, which inflated to reveal what looked like a flea in peasant's clothing, with a humanoid beard.

"Greetings and salutations." It said in a nasally voice. "My name is Myoga."

Seto didn't complain; it meant a load less paperwork when and if they returned. He looked to each of the three others in the room, receiving nods from the two ladies, and a fierce salute from Joey. Sighing again, the mage grabbed him by the arm. "You're coming along, too, mutt."

**XXXXX**

It was quiet in the room Yoh slept in, the usual lack of sounds from Anna's room making him nervous, for some reason. His eyes went to the old toys he had, of ships and sailors, to the photos of his life's fondest memories...

A clap of thunder went by, though he wasn't shocked. Storms were common during this season, and the worst they could do would be to take the- He leapt out of bed, and rushed outside. "The raft! I have to- what!"

Far above him, a swirling black sphere hung in the air, causing ripples in the sky around it. Somehow sickened, Yoh looked around to see what had happened. And then, with a flash, he remembered a dream he had dreamt of the other day...

Small creatures were coming out of the ground; forming from shadows that slithered up to him. Each one was up to his knee while kneeling, roughly the height of his friend Manta, and made of pure darkness, aside from two large, glowing yellow eyes. He remembered eyes that matched those shade, and looked to see a familiar face on the small isle. With fluid movements from years of training, he grabbed his wooden sword from the pier, and batted it at the creatures, though it seemed to do nothing to them, merely passing through.

Somehow, he made it to the bridge leading to the small piece of land, and found Ren there, his Kwan Dao in hand, staring into the sky. "It's here Yoh... we're going."

"What are you talking about, Ren?" Yoh shouted over the wind. "We have to go! We need to find Anna, and-"

"She's coming with us! Didn't you hear her?" Ren screamed back, causing Yoh to step aside in shock. The look in his friend's eyes was manic, possessed. "I realize now that we may never return here... you may never see your parents, nor will I see my sister or anyone else here again.. but we have to go! And I'm NOT afraid of some swirling pool of nothing!"

Yoh grimaced as he stepped toward his friend, somehow not perturbed by the blackness forming around them both, he reached out to his friend, who in turn stretched out his own hand... total darkness formed around them, blocking all sight. Yoh gasped as he felt something strange in his friend's palm, and in the shock pulled back-

A blast of pure, white light erupted around him; Ren was gone, along with his wooden blade...but the latter of which was not his concern, especially now... now that he looked down, and saw what had appeared in that dark moment.

It appeared to be a sword... a sword shaped like a key. A golden, rounded hilt like a key's bottom side curved around his hand, and the long, silver blade ended in two rounded edges. And somewhere in the back of his mind, a voice called...

_Keyblade..._

Without meaning too, he whirled his body around and swiped the weapon into one of the creatures that had formed behind him. Instantly it erupted in violet light and vanished, leaving no stain on the ground or blade. Though the meaning behind it was lost on Yoh, he realized that this weapon could harm the creatures. He looked over the area again, and realized, while cutting approaching beasts, that the area of the cave now had a sterling silver door in front of it. He leapt from the platform to the beach, destroying more shadows as he went, and as he approached the door, it opened of it's own accord.

He stopped, looking behind him. The creatures had paused, ceasing their advance towards the young boy, and seemed to be watching him, waiting for him to do something. Knowing if they followed he could easily take them in the narrow cave, he dashed on. Very shortly, he saw a half-greeting sight; Anna.

However, as the young girl turned to her fiance, he saw her face; it was dreary, sad, weak... with a slow, low voice, she muttered his name.. and the door in front of her opened, letting a terrible gust of wind out of it. On instinct, he stretched his arms to catch her... only to see her vanish in his arms. He lost his balance, and the wind shot him straight out of the cave, landing him in.. the cove?

He blanched; all there WAS was the cove. The world around him, ocean, beach, and everything except the small are he was on, was GONE. A familiar sound of something large rising from the ground came to him, and once more turned around to see a horrifying sight.

The monster from his dream... the BIG one. Easily four times his height, with massive arms and tentacle- like hair, with a large, heart-shaped hole through its chest. Before, he had been holding a sword, silver and heavy... but now...

He braced his Keyblade firmly, and leapt against the beast just as one of those titanic fists barreled toward him. His mouth moved, shouting something out, he couldn't hear himself...and then he felt his blade connect. He had leapt straight into the beast's face, and the blade had slashed it in two.

He felt himself falling upward...another strange sensation his dream had contained...he was lifting into the sphere, hearing the endless rush of a dying world...

Then, nothing.

**00000**

"Heh, I gotta' hand it to ya', Kaiba; these duds look pretty cool."

"Hmph."

"I still don't see why Kuriboh came with us, but it's nice to know its worried about Yuge, too!"

"Hmph."

"You got any idea where dis' Regal guy is?"

"I'm tired of clearing my throat, so, to answer, NO!" Seto shouted loudly.

The need for a change in attire to protect the boundaries of the worlds had allowed him to practice some long neglected materialization magic, and he had done well, in his opinion. His duster was shorter, without the silver emblems, and his staff was safely hid within it. Joey's armor was replaced with a green trench coat and white shirt, and his shield-

"Why aren't you hiding that? Normal people don't keep shields on their backs, Wheeler!"

"Normal people don't have "Hmph" as half of their dictionary, either." Joey growled back. His eyes suddenly moved upward, attracted by the change he had sadly grown accustomed to seeing. "There goes another star."

"I'm glad you can control that stupid accent when you're being serious. Now come on; my little brothers and their alternating attachment have some supplies for us."

Solemnly following the sorcerer, Joey blinked again as he noticed one of their group heading toward a back alley. "Hey, Kuriboh-"

"Just let it go, Wheeler. With any luck, a cat will eat it, and it'll have gone full circle."

"...dude, I'm starting to worry about your mind."

"Good, we feel the same towards our allies."

As the two continued to bicker, entering the small item shop, Kuriboh literally bounced between the walls until it came to its target; un unconscious young boy, holding a large key in his hand. It gently tapped him on the face with it's tiny green claw, and earned an involuntary thwack at his discovery's left hand.

Yoh opened his eyes, saw the growling puffball, and muttered, "must be dreaming." Kuriboh chose that exact time to explode, throwing him against the wall and snapping him awake. "ACK!"

He breathed quick, shallow breaths as he calmed down, and watched as the dust and smoke around him re -formed into the same small, furry creature. With a cooing sound that was more like a giggle, it spun around and flew away into the air.

"Okay.. that was strange." Yoh stated, pushing himself to the ground. Wiping dirt off of his grass- colored jeans, walked forward, his eyes taking in the strange surroundings. "Where am I?"

As he exited the alley, and saw for himself the large, central area of the town, his eyes widened. "I'm... in a different world... but where're the others?"

Yoh lifted the unusual weapon in his hand, looking over it once again. "Whatever that voice was, it called this the Keyblade...and what were those shadow things?"

"Heartless. They are called the Heartless."

By this point, Yoh was getting used to meeting mysterious figures, so he calmly turned to face the informing person, who was standing across the small street, on the other side of the house he was next to. However, years of training in senses above those of normal humans shocked him as he sensed the aura around the newcomer. It was thick, tough, fierce; quite like his initial appearance to Yoh.

His shirt was white and pants green, mimicking Yoh, but the shirt varied in the fact that it was half as big as it should have been, stretched tightly against ripped muscle and ending in unusually short sleeves. Below the jeans were his feet, covered in a pair of boots hidden behind large, heavy-looking greaves. His hair was uncontrolled, tangled and reaching below his neck, a dark blue color. Under the same-colored eyebrows were a pair of equally blue eyes, oddly serene looking, even though his face indicated a glare to the young boy.

The strangest thing about this man, however, was obvious even to Yoh's unassuming mind; he was shackled. Two large iron braces, one on each arm, were connected by a single pair of chain links, forcing his large fists into a praying position.

Though strange, it wasn't what startled him. The aura surrounding the man... as stated before, it was thick, but not just in power. There seemed to be two individual auras swimming around him, one, the more noticeable, his own, but the other was... cold. Unemotional, blank. He felt woozy just sensing it, which was evident as he started swaying side to side... with a slightly resentful feeling, he conked out again, his last vision being the chained man approaching.

**XXXXX**

Again, he groggily opened his eyes, vaguely wondering how long he'd been unconscious, before he snapped awake, a familiar face bringing a grin to his own. Anna smiled as she turned to face him. "Good, you're awake."

Yoh blinked, confusion returning with a vengeance. 'A smile?' Before he could speak again, his fiance continued. "It's that Keyblade you have with you; it's attracting the Heartless. We're safe in here right now, though, so everything's okay."

"Uh, Anna? It's nice to know you're safe, but where's Ren? And why are you so... easy-going all of a sudden?"

A concerned, slightly confused look to match his own appeared on his friend's face, shocking him further. "Er, maybe you're still out of it... my name's Winry, not Anna."

Yoh rubbed his eyes vigorously, and realized he must've imagined it, though the girl in front of him did look slightly like his friend. She had blonde hair (though much longer than Anna's), and kept it in a red bandana. However, the black, dress-like clothing his friend wore switched places with a form-fitting tube top. She had appeared Anna's height because she was kneeling to face Yoh, but as she stood up, he realized she was a head taller than him, give or take a few inches.

"Hey, Regal? He's woken up, I think..."

He followed her gaze to see the man from before, leaning calmly against the wall of the red-themed room they were in. His aura had calmed, which Yoh was thankful for, so he felt no queasiness in the room. "Forgive me for being so aggressive earlier; I should have considered you would sense that. My name is Regal Bryant, from Tethe'alla."

Yoh nodded dumbly as the man with shackles made a surprisingly graceful bow in apologizing. "Yoh Asakura... from Destiny Island... I guess."

"You must not have met with anyone before me." Regal noted, staring back down to the floor. "You're currently in Traverse Town, which is a world founded to house those whose worlds have been lost."

"Lost?"

Winry looked down as well, with a sadder expression than her associate. "The Heartless are creatures without hearts of their own.. and they seek out the hearts of worlds. When they reach it... they devour it, and that world is lost."

"Our worlds, and those of many others, and now, it seems, yours, have suffered this fate." Regal continued, noting the oddly calm expression on Yoh's face. Usually giving this explanation brought gasps, large-eyed looks, and long hours of tears. "The Heartless either appear as the pure black creatures you probably saw, or in a variety of different forms and shapes with the emblem of a shattered heart somewhere on their body. The only thing truly known is that they fear this."

Regal lifted the Keyblade, which he had been hiding behind him, and it instantly vanished. Yoh felt it in his hands the next moment, and looked over it's silver sheen once more. "As you can see, it returns automatically to its wielder. The Heartless fear it, and so they come in droves whenever they sense it."

"Okay..." Yoh said slowly. "Then... why aren't they attacking now?"

At that second, two dull, erupting noises sounded in the small room. Without even thinking, both fighters cut through the two Shadows that appeared. "That answered that!"

"Winry! Get Raine and head for the 1st District!" Regal said, suddenly sounding very authoritative, his aura making Yoh flinch again. "Yoh, follow me!"

Most people would've blinked and ignored that command, considering Regal leapt out the window, but Yoh was used to far more insane stunts, and followed, landing next to the blue-haired martial artist and swinging his new blade through a small, red, flying Heartless as he did so.

"Yoh, tell me, are you a shaman?"

Yoh blinked as the blue-eyed fighter continued fighting, even in conversation. "How'd you know?"

Regal smiled as Yoh struck another Heartless. "I'll tell you later. There's someone in the 3rd District you need to meet; someone strong. You can get there by leaving this alley and going through the Gizmo Shop in 2nd District. I'll take care of the small fry around here while you're there."

Yoh grit his teeth as his hand shook; the Keyblade vibrated with a resounding ting after slicing through a lightly - armored creature. "Thanks, but won't they follow me if I leave?"

"Trust me, they won't be able to. Now go!"

The brown-haired teenager nodded once, and dashed forward. His training and instincts helped him as he weaved through waves of small creatures, heading for the large building covered in glowing lights, which was good; his mind was preoccupied by a returning element from his past.

He was a shaman... the memories of Anna's most important lessons shouted back to him... a shaman... a bridge between sides; a link from this world (or, more appropriately now, life) and the next. Like everyone else on Destiny Island, he could see and communicate with ghosts. In fact, he could even unify with them; letting the spirits into his body, invoking a symbiotic partnership. Shaman who did this gained the abilities and strength of the ghost possessing them (moreso if they too were physically strong, the reason for all of Anna's other tortuous tasks,) and the spirits would have a body to touch the physical world with. Their most important tasks were to aid the spirits of the world, healing hearts and solving problems, so they could reach a peaceful afterlife...

There had been a surprising number of spirits on Destiny Island, as Yoh remembered all too clearly. Cuts and scars covered his back and sides from wounds he received from malicious spirits, and many of his friends had near-death experiences of their own in their helpfulness.

_'If I have to meet this strong person because I'm a shaman... it means this person is a ghost.'_ He rationalized. He swiftly stabbed through another flying, beaker-shaped Heartless and span around, kicking the door to the bright building open. Avoiding the distracting gizmos of the aptly named shop, he open on the opposite side, and rushed out. To his right was a large area, most of which was located in a pit-shaped section surrounded by a fence to his right. Passing a nondescript house, he ran down the ramp and into the pit.

Yoh's head turned until his eyes caught his predicted goal; a small tombstone near a wall at the back. He briefly wondered if he should put away his weapon in respect, but the Keyblade solved that by changing into the small keychain at it's hilt, tied to his glove. He walked forward, recognizing the kanji 'maru' from a distance..

With a loud crash, two bodies several inches taller than him fell on his back, mashing him to the ground. "ACK!"

"You could have _told_ me there was a Heartless behind me, mutt!"

"I did, munnybags! You specifically said 'like I'd fall for that', and-"

"Then you should've attacked it!" The first speaker said, throwing the other off and onto the ground and stepping off of a very sore shaman. "Even I would've believed you, then!"

The other, who Yoh's blurry vision could show wore a green trenchcoat, pulled a shield with the shape of a silver eye on it's front off of his back, and braced it in an offensive pose. "Let's save it, Kaiba; that thing brought it's friends!"

Pushing himself up, Yoh saw the owner of the blue duster remove a staff from it's inside pocket. "You'd better hope I run out of magic power, Wheeler!"

"Actually, I'd prefer your HEALTH power-"

"Hi, guys."

The two arguing comrades looked to see the dirt-covered boy they had landed on. "Wanna take on these Heartless together?"

"Uh...sure." Joey said, flushing from embarrassment at not noticing. Seto merely 'hmphed', and shot a fireball from the tip of his staff, incinerating a pair of Soldier Heartless.

Yoh leapt from his spot and cut down a Shadow that appeared near the mage, and Joey swung the edge of his shield into another soldier, then followed by bringing the defensive end down hard on the spinning helmet. Seto froze a leaping Shadow, which quickly plummeted onto a duo of it's comrades, and chose to avoid noticing the irony.

In a matter of moments, the fight was finished. Joey, breathing slightly faster, grinned sheepishly at his former landing pad. "Sorry 'bout that. Name's Joey Wheeler, and the magical moron back there is Seto Kaiba."

"And that magical moron noticed five minutes ago that this kid has the Key the King mentioned." Seto countered coldly. Joey's eyes widened, and he looked between the grinning Yoh and his partner. "Whaa! Why didn't you say anything!"

" I needed proof that you don't recognize the obvious without help. Then again, dogs _are_ colorblind, so maybe-"

"Uh, guys?" Yoh interrupted, looking up with a shocked expression. "Big one."

The two taller fighters dodged as a large suit of purple armor landed, it's limbs missing and the Heartless insignia emblazed on its chest. Two yellow eyes peered from the otherwise vacant helmet, and the gauntlets span 360 degrees before its fingers started flexing menacingly.

"Very." Seto agreed. "_Fire_!"

Obviously intended as a distraction, Kaiba's spell failed in its planned reaction, and the gauntlet it struck suddenly shot out with it's rightside partner to attack the mage head on. Noticing this, Yoh shouted, " it's body can separate! We need to attack individual parts!"

"Yeah, that could work!" Joey responded, leaping to strike the right leg, only to discover the left in his path...or, rather, chest. "Uhf...if we had two more guys...maybe..."

Yoh reevaluated his plan as he put the Keyblade in front of him, struggling not to shake from the force of the main body's spinning attack. He noticed how the limbs attacking his allies were in pairs, not alternating in the least in their distance. "The limbs are connected to their opposites, somehow! If we can lure them to one spot-"

Another round of pain went through his forehead as he learned that the head, having no partner, was exempt from that weakness. He rocketed backward, coming contact into something hard. Wiping the small cut from the strike, he moved to get up again...

_'Yoh-dono!'_ An echoing voice said from behind him. _'You're alive! How did you survive the attack!'_

"He didn't hit me that hard..." Yoh said warily, turning to look at the tombstone he had crashed into. " And how do you know my name?"

A gasp was heard from the tomb, then a resigned sigh. _'I...I see. You cannot remember, either. I heard this had happened with X-Laws, but..."_

"X-who? Heard from what?" Yoh said, more confused, before noticing the full name on the tomb. "**Amidamaru the Fiend, who slew 1000 men before being brought to eternal justice..**."

_'Hah! They gave me the same tombstone as last time... Yoh-dono, you may not remember my name, but I am still your blade to wield. At the moment, though, I believe Spirit Unity would be better for us to fight with, so would you allow me to help?'_

Yoh blinked, re-reading the message on the stone quickly. Then, he grinned. "Sure, why not? Even if you are an insane killer, that's good in a fight!"

_'Heh, your memory isn't the same, but you never change, Yoh... Let's do it!'_

Yoh turned to face the Guard Armor, so he didn't notice the appearance of the now-visible ghost behind him. However, he somehow felt it wasn't necessary, and thrust his hand out in an open position. "_Amidamaru, Spirit Form_!"

He saw the white ball of energy form in his hand, taking the shape of his new ally's head, but there was no time to make out other details. He thrust the ball into his chest, and it disappeared into another flash of light. "_Unity_!"

Back at the battle, Kaiba was firing round after round of fireballs at the dodging hands, finally feeling himself drained of magic. As he prepared for a desperate, physical attack, he noticed the Gauntlets change directory, heading quickly toward Yoh, who stood there, eyes closed, defenseless. Joey noticed, too as the feet did the same, and was about to shout something-

_SLASH!_

Yoh was in the exact center of the other two, the Keyblade at his side, the Guard Armor behind him. He opened his eyes, revealing their suddenly white, intense appearance, and his two human allies gasped as the arms, legs, and head of the beast shattered into dust.

"How...how did you do that?" Seto gasped.

Yoh grinned, a task that suddenly made him look scary. When he answered, his own voice, plus that of an adult man's, exited his mouth. "My name is Yoh Asakura. I am a shaman, a link to the next world, and currently possessed by a samurai named Amidamaru."

The ghost appeared from Yoh's back in a transparent form, and both of the other two were stunned. He was larger than he was in life, due to his current state, and wore a white set of robes with a steel chestplate, and two large, red shoulder guards. His hair was platinum, with a slight tint of lavender to it, and his eyes were dark, like Yoh's had been a second ago. Both bodies turned, Yoh holding the Keyblade in the same stance that the illusion above him held a sharp katana.

"_Celestial Slash_!" As both swung their blades horizontally, a red arc of energy shot out, made contact with the wildly spinning torso, and accomplished their goal. With a loud explosion, and a large, swirling heart vanishing into the sky, the Guard Armor was finished.

**XXXXX**

Somewhere, far away, a council of many strange beings watched the events take place inside a small sphere of energy. Though shadowed in the room's darkness, anyone could see the way they glanced at one another edgily between views of the orb, as if worried they would be attacked. It wouldn't be a surprise; the entire group was comprised of devious and maniacal individuals from across the universe.

"Hmm, impressive." An old man's voice stated from the round table's furthest left point. "To see such strength and control from such a young lad..."

"Hmph. _I'm_ not impressed in the least." A sophisticated young adult's voice said from the only other source of light in the room; his eight crystalline wings. "He wouldn't have destroyed that Heartless so quickly had he not held the Keyblade. And his power came from that ghost, not his own skill."

"Actually, his own strength combined with that of the samurai's made for that beautiful display of power." A male, though oddly feminine, voice said from it's shadow. Ruffling his hair back, the rogue continued, "However, he does present a problem. Perhaps the best way of defeating him is to get him on our side; he'd make a potent Heartless!"

Were words given physical form, his last statement would obviously have had a heart at the end. A disgusted sound came from a gruff, older voice two chairs away, and the shadow displayed was highly egg-shaped. "That Guard Armor couldn't hold a candle to one of _my_ machines. I should take the _Egg Carrier_ and shoot him from space!"

"Now now, that's hardly necessary." A voice much like the haughty one earlier said, though much louder and overdramatic. "Sorry, tubby, but he'd likely be even stronger than me by the time your ship got there! ME! _The Dark Ado_-"

"Will you shut up already! That's the tenth time since this meeting started you've stated your title! Even geniuses like myself lose patien-"

"_Silence_." A cold voice said from across the room. The entire council obeyed as the form of a young man, hardly over 20, with long dark hair and a purple, feudal lord-like outfit appeared. Though he seemed like a normal human, and his voice carried the sound of amusement, his molten red eyes pierced through every one of the others, making the rotund one shudder particularly hard.

"It is true that he has great strength, but with it comes a heavy burden." The man said, entering the green-tinged light near the table and further enhancing the feeling of evil in the room. "To bear the Keyblade is to be surrounded by darkness. Will he and his ghost break out of the shadows, and unlock the door? Or will they both become the darkness they struggle against?" Here, he grinned, and any sense of him being human vanished in it's sharp, harsh appearance. He removed from his robe a small, perfectly round jewel, which was black and somehow glowing with such a high amount of darkness within it.

"Either way, we win."

**00000**

Yoh grinned as he finished his work, and placed what appeared to be a model of tombstone on the table before him. "All set, Amidamaru. One mortuary tablet for traveling!"

"Just like old times." The ghost said fondly, before facing his master. "I do not know why you have no memory of me, Yoh-dono, but I will stand by your side regardless."

"Thanks! And are you two okay?" Yoh added, glancing behind him to see his new, living friends. Kaiba was merely glaring at Amidamaru with a distrustful look; Joey was trembling on top of the sign to Winry's Accessory Shop.

"Sorry. It'll take awhile to get used to being in the presence of a ghost."

"Used to?" Yoh said curiously.

Seto smirked. "We were ordered by our King to find the 'Key' and stick with whoever holds it. Wherever you go, we go. And by that, I mean "wherever I force you to go as we search for our King, we go, and you go.""

Yoh grinned again. "That's fine with me. I need to look for my friends, anyway. I can't sense Anna or Ren in this world, so searching for them with you would be great!"

"Then let's start over." The blue eyed one stated, holding out a hand. "My name is High Mage General Seto Kaiba. I'd prefer it if you called me High Mage, General, High Mage General, or Kaiba; my first name belongs to my family."

"I'm Captain of the Guard: Joey Wheeler! Just call me Joey!" The blonde one said, down from the sign, but darting his eyes between Yoh and Amidamaru as he put forth a shaky hand.

Yoh placed his own palm on theirs, smiling. "I'm Yoh Asakura, shaman and expert slacker!"

The semi-seriousness now fully dead and buried by that statement, Joey grinned and Kaiba groaned. "So much for a grand start to an adventure.. I pity whoever chronicles this."

"Yes, yes, I get the picture." Myoga the Flea grumbled, and jotted down his notes.

**00000**

_Yoh: Hi, I'm Yoh Asakura! As cool as this 'Blue Eyes White Gummi Ship' is, I think Kaiba has some kinda obsession over the thing.. anyway, we wind up in a strange world full of monsters, giant houses, and apple-bearing fuse boxes next time! Huh? The whole world's made of data? I'm confused... but we've got giant bugs to worry about, so explanations have to wait!_

_Next time on Spirit of the Heart: Digital Dreams and Broken Physics Laws! Yohmon, digivolve toooo... Amidamarumon! Ack, I'm kidding, Kaiba!_

Chapter posted: February 15, 2005.


	2. Chapter 2: Digital Dreams and Broken Phy...

**Myoga's Character Bios.**

**Yoh Asakura - A young, easy-going boy from Destiny Islands. He lost his friends during the destruction of his world, but seeks to find them by traveling to other worlds with Kaiba and Joey. Though a Grade A slacker, he has a powerful heart, which may be why the Keyblade chose him... Yoh first channeled the dead in Shaman King, 1998.**

**Seto Kaiba - The High Mage General of Domino Castle and a fierce force to be reckoned with. Calculating and cold, he excels in whatever he does, regardless of the means to reach such potential. His memory holds dark events beneath his piercing blue-eyed glare. He first summoned the Blue Eyes White Dragon in Yu-Gi-Oh, 1996.**

**Joey Wheeler - Captain of the Guard of Domino Castle, and the King's best friend. Optimistic and rash, his loyalty and courage make up for his somewhat slow-paced wit. In any sort of challenge, the amount of luck he displays is nothing if not inspiring. He first winged total victory in Yu-Gi-Oh, 1996.**

**Myoga - That's me! Myoga the Flea! When my world was destroyed by the Heartless, the King offered me shelter in his castle... or, more technically, the furrier of his many, MANY strange pets, called 'Duel Monsters', or something. To repay my debt to his majesty, I have taken on the duty of chronicling this tale for future generations to enjoy! My only regret is that it makes my participation in battle too risky... a sacrifice I make without complaint. I first tasted the blood of fame in Inuyasha, 1997.**

**Amidamaru - A samurai who, in life, slew uncountable numbers of his own lord's men before being taken down. Much about him is still a mystery, including the truth behind his legend, how he knows Yoh, and why Yoh remembers nothing about him. However confused the two are, though, they share a bond stronger than lost memories can break. Amidamaru first became Yoh's blade in Shaman King, 1998.**

**Regal Bryant - President of Lezerano Inc., one of the three dukes of Tethe'alla, and a tried murderer, Regal is a mystery within a mystery. He continues to wear the shackles he asked to be placed on him, even after being pardoned of his crime, viewing them as the symbol of his sin. He fights with reinforced greaves on his feet, and is highly skilled, very passionate chef. His pride pulled him through in Tales of Symphonia, 2004.**

**0X0X0**

(**Flashback**)

_"My name is Raine Sage, and I'm an associate of Regal Bryant. He's busy at the moment, but feel free to ask me any questions you had intended for him."_

_Kaiba handed the letter to the white-haired woman, a wary expression on his face. He sensed an abnormal aura around her, and her eyes were similar to his in the way they analyzed everything around them. "We're looking for the King. Our only leads so far are written in this message."_

_"And since we've sorta found Regal, all we need now is information on this 'Key' thing." Joey added, taking a bite from the tough bood item on his plate. "Er, no offense, Ms. Sage, but this steak ya cooked is a bit too salty..."_

_"That's a piece of cake, actually." Raine commented. Joey stopped eating immediately as she continued, " the Heartless destroy worlds by finding the 'Keyhole' to the foor to a world's heart. According to legend, their exists a magical sword in the shape of a key, the Keyblade, which is both the ultimate weapon to wield against the Heartless and the only way to 'lock' the Keyhole to a world's heart. The Heartless fear this outcome above all else, and will be attracted to the weapon, seeking to destroy its wielder. For that, the Keyblade itself will choose who wields it, seeking a heart pure and strong enough to prevail over such odds."_

_Kaiba nodded, his mind memorizing these facts as Myoga scribbled them down atop his shoulder. "It sounds vague, but when the King investigates things like this, they're usually true. Is there anything else?"_

_Raine frowned, thinking for a moment. "...Hao."_

_"How what?" Joey asked._

_"No, Hao, H.A.O. It's the name of someone I read about. He was the king of a castle in a far off world, and resaerched the Heartless throughly before that world was taken, as well. It's rumored that he escaped, however, and that the pages of the report were scattered to many other worlds..."_

_"Come to think of it, the King once mentioned meeting a ruler named Hao, but said he was a little kid..." Kaiba said._

_"He WAS only around 8 when his world was taken 6 years ago. He was a child genius, but that just means it'll be harder tosearch for him."_

_"Then the King must be searching for those pages!" Joey exclaimed, standing up with his fist shaking in excitement. "If we look for em, we're bound to run into him."_

_The duster wearing mage made to say some insult, but it was cut off by the sound of a breaking window in the other room..._

(**Flashback over**)

**X0X0X**

Yoh gaped as he viewed the large vessal before him. Though it was obviously made of many, many differently shaped blocks, the machine before him looked like the head of a white-skinned dragon with bright blue eyes, it's mouth revealing several weapons painted red like a tongue.

"The pride of Domino Castle's Gummi Hanger, the _Blue Eyes White Gummi Ship_. I built it myself." Kaiba said, using as much humility as was in his nature. "The eyes are barrier-emitting gummies, while four Thundara-G cannons are it's tongue. The two 'tusks' on the sides of it's mouth are Ultima Lasers, albeit a bit different from the standard variety..."

"Meaning he made illegal modifications to send their energy through the cannons, instead, so it's like a laser-breathin' dragon." Joey whispered to his open-mouthed friend. "I'd rat em' out, if it wasn't so darned cool!"

"It seats three, though I have another Gummi Ship design for it to Transform into, which will seat up to seven." The spellcastor continued, apparantly not hearing Joey's comment. "I have four medium engines as the tail, it's body is solid Dispel-G armor, and it has several wings attached to both sides, yielding the illusion of only two." Here he turned, with a demonic glint in his eyes, to his partners. "Touch the wheel, and I can't be held responsible for whatever parts you lose."

"... I don't understand half of that, but this thing is a ship, right?" Yoh finally said, causing the other two to facefault.

"Yes." The engineer of said ship stated, slightly surprised at the Joey-like comment from the Keyblade master. "Gummi ships allow us to travel between the vast range of interdimensional space to reach other worlds. Now get in; we have a lot ahead of us, kid."

"HEY! How come I'm a dog, and he's just a kid, when even I could think of calling him a 'sloth'?" Joey griped as they entered the ship.

"Your brain grows more moss in it than a sloth's fur, anyway."

"Oh, BRILLIANT comeback, Mr. Blue Eyes White God Complex!"

"Are you two_always_ like this?" Yoh asked, strapping himself to the red chair on the right side of the cockpit.

"They haven't even started, Yoh." Myoga sighed, leaping onto the headphone-adorning head. "My advice is to just phase it out."

**00000**

The young shaman had been impressed by the ease of his first jouney in a Gummi Ship, eagerly watching as wave after wave of Heartless vehicles vanished in explosions and the stars to either side zoomed by. He had been even more amazed that, in the entire time they flew, fending off Heartless and dodging deadly pillars of space junk, Seto and Joey were STILL arguing, exchanging name after senseless name. However, what startled him the most was that in one instant, he went from sitting in his seat to being facedown on the ground.

Yoh felt Joey lifting him up, and answered his concerned expression with a wide grin. "That was AWESOME! But what happened, and how come we're suddenly shipless?"

"Eh, sorry 'bout that.." the blonde one apologized. "We shoulda' told ya'; Gummi Ships warp their riders to safe places on a planet's surface, in the event there isn't a hangar on the world."

"We'll call it back after searching for the King." Kaiba stated, currently looking around the the tree-filled area. "Does something feel... different about this place?"

Joey looked at a tree close tohim, and took an apple from what appeared to be a fusebox. "Not that much. Think this is safe ta' eat?"

Before answering, the mage thwacked the apple from it's position, already halfway to Joey's open mouth. "_No_."

"I too feel something unusual in this place, General." Amidamaru said, appearing from the tablet in Yoh's jacket. "Though it appears normal, this entire forest is devoid of organic life; artificial."

Yoh picked up the fallen fruit, seeing many odd, glowing cracks from where it had been struck, and nodded. "I think I see a lot of zeroes and ones in here, guys... that's not normal, right?"

"Not unless we're all in some kinda' video game, or a cyber-world where black-coated guys can appear out of nowhere." Joey said rationally. At that moment, a small squad of Shadows came up from the ground around them, and the others glared at their shield-bearing friend. "Right...stop talking."

Yoh cut through two of them, ending his combo with a swing that sent one clean into the air. Kaiba shot a _Fire_ toward that one, blasting it away, then stuck his staff through one more. Joey leapt onto the remaining opponant, hie shield flattening the thing before it vanished. Unfortunatly, several dark flashes brought a group of Soldiers into the mix, too.

"How do these things keep coming out of nowhere!" Yoh shouted, cutting another in two.

"The Shadows can pop up outta' nowhere in a world that's being infested, and the others can teleport to where they sense stuff!" Joey answered, flinging two more troops away. They crashed into the same tree he had examined earlier, their claws cutting into several apples... and, after several seconds of electrocution, were destroyed. "... Uh, Kaiba? You didn't see that."

Kaiba 'hmphed', then shouted, "_Thunder_!" Multiple thin streaks of lightning turned the straggling Heartless into vapor. "To conclude the mutt's lesson, new Heartless can get here in their own Gummi Ships, and they appear much as we did when we entered this world. That's why it's important to destroy as many as possible on trips between worlds."

Another flash came, this one alone, but much bigger than the others. Yoh glared at this new creature, which he classified as a highly overweight Soldier. "You think that guy ate a bunch of high-cholesterol hearts?"

"Yoh-dono, allow me to take this one!" Amidamaru said, reappearing. "Battling large foes is no mystery to me."

"Got it! _Amidamaru, Spirit Form! Unity_!"

Yoh didn't show his surprise at how much faster the merge went than last time, nor how closer the integration was; he merely leapt forward, swinging the Keyblade in a large arc as it struck his foe.

He wound up on his back again, his weapon still vibrating in his hand. "What? How did that happen?"

"This one seems to be protected against frontal attacks." Kaiba said, a smirk appearing on his face as he pulled what looked like a deck of cards from his pocket. "Well, that gives me an excuse to-"

"_Lightning Claw_!"

The Large Body vanished in another flash, and a small shape landed in front of where it stood. As the sorceror reluctantly put away his cards, the group looked closer at their benefactor... and saw a cat.

It stood upright, it's entire body covered in snow white fur. with large blue eyes and yellow gloves over it's claws. Purple stripes adorned certain areas of it's torso and tail.

A long, uncomfortable pause came, during which Amidamaru returned to his portable grave. Finally, Yoh grinned. "Hey, thanks for the help, little guy."

"I'm a girl, actually." The cat said, continuing as the others stepped back in surprise. "The name's Gatomon. You three looked like you needed help, so I thought I'd lend a claw."

"Again, thanks! My name's Yoh, the shield guy's Joey, and the staff guy's Kaiba." The Keyblade guy said, already recovering from the surprise of meeting a talking cat. "And, I know this sounds weird, but do you know where we are?"

"Actually, I was guessing you'd ask that; not many humans come here, after all." She admitted, smiling in away that made her appear even more catlike. "This is the Digital World, and I'm a Digimon. A Champion Vaccine Digimon, to be precise. This world and everything in it is made of computer data, to get that question out of the way-"

"I KNEW IT!" Joey yelled triumphantly. "Cyber-world with black-coated guys coming outta' nowhere! I bet 'Digimon' is just another term for 'Age-'"

_THWACK!_ Joey fell to the ground, out cold. Kaiba placed his slightly bent staff back in his coat. "Forgive the idiot. He still hasn't recovered from our castle's last movie marathon. Tell me, have you encountered creatures like the ones we just fought before?"

"Trust me, pal; fighting weird creatures is like breathing in this world." She answered, still staring as Joey started recovering. "But those things are relatively new here. They've only shown up in the past few days, though the Emperor's discovered his rings can control them just as well as Digimon, and they've been showing up around every Control Spire we try and take down."

"Emperor? You mean you DO have some dark-cloaked guy controlling everything?" Yoh asked, his mind going back to the day before, when he met that stranger in the cave.

Gatomon shook her head, anger evident as she started scowling. "He isn't really dark-cloaked, but he's trying his best at the control part! If his rings attach to a Digimon, he takes control of it, and his Control Spires power the rings! Those weird things also get controlled, so he's been doubling up his army everywhere!"

"Does it seem ominous this sounds familiar?" Joey asked, rubbing his head as he stood up. "'Cuz I coulda' sworn you just described half the guys me and Kaiba have fought in the past."

"Same game, different way." Kaiba agreed. "I guess dark minds think alike... so, are you planning something like this?"

"Stop arguing." Yoh said, though he obviously fused with Amidamaru, again even faster than the last time. "There are more coming."

As soon as he finished, almost a dozen flashes occured, and each dropped a Soldier... but it was different than usual. The aura around each one was stronger than the ones from earlier, their yellow eyes glowed red, and each had a black ring around either an arm or leg.

"I guess they get stronger when equipped with those rings." Kaiba growled. "_Blizzard_!"

Two of the enemies froze, but quickly broke free from their icy prison, and leapt for the mage. Yoh leapt over Kaiba, destroying them both, then started parrying as five charged him at once. "We have to spread out, or they'll take us down!"

"Easier said than done." Joey called back, hardly able to attack as he rushed his shield to a defensive stance, blocking his own assailant's moves.

"_Lightining Claw_!" Gatomon cried again, slashing another foe to oblivion. As she landed, she flipped back to claw up another Soldier that had charged as she was distracted. Kaiba realized the problem with his magic in time to save himself; he bent his weapon's wound from Joey's head back into place, then tried another _Blizzard_, with much better results.

"I'll end this! _Celestial Slash_!" Yoh swung his blade, and the same red arc of energy that totaled the Guard Armor ended the strengthened Soldiers. Amidamaru exited his host again, and the three humans knelt down, exhausted. "Heh... we haven't even left this small part of the forest and we're worn out."

Rustling grass caused them to tense again, dreading another fight, but this time it wasn't a Heartless that appeared. It was a human, a girl around Yoh's age. She had short brown hair, wore a pink and white outfit, and had a digital camera around her neck. Gatomon smiled, running up to her. "Kari!"

"Sorry I didn't make it here faster, but it looks like nothing went wrong. Oh, who are these guys?" She said, glancing curiously at the tired trio. "Humans? Uh, you guys didn't get pulled through a computer, did you?"

"At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if we did." Joey replied, suspiscion beginning to grow.. he quickly dropped his _Matrix_ theory, though, apon seeing Kaiba wiping his staff with the edge of his duster. "Er, I mean... no. Did you?"

"As much as it smacks the laws of physics in the face, yes... it's how me and my friends enter the Digital World. Oh, right, I didn't get your names!"

**XXXXX**

A few miles away, amidst the lound sounds of contruction outside of the totally dark building he was in, a young man laughed, watching the introductions of the newcomers. "So, that's the group that weird baboon warned me about? I admit, they're strong, but they seem to be even less coordinated than those annoying Digidestined!"

"Master?" A mumbling, submissive voice came from near the foot of the dark youth. "I have a bad feeling about this. Maybe it would be safer to take over the Digital World without these Heartless guys?"

"As I've said before, Wormmon, I am not deviating from my original plan." The boy answered coldly. "In fact, now I can take that key, as well, and use it's power for myself!

As the human fell into a fit of maniacal laughter, the voice deemed Wormmon sighed sadly.

**00000**

_Joey: Joey Wheeler here, the Guard with all da' cards! Well, a lot, anyway... Kaiba's staff may sting, but I think THESE bad bugs'll do a whole lot more than that! Huh? This Emperor kid is using Digimon to guard his giant Heartless while he does something that'll let him take over the world? That _jerk_! He knows we can't attack the Digimon under his control, or they're toast! And who's this wise guy in the ninja suit? Furyo-what? Sheesh, Yoh, you have a lotta weirdos following ya..._

_Next time, on _Spirit of the Heart: An Emperor's Fate is 'Sealed.'_ And what was that weird locking sound? This is turnin' into one big puzzle..._

Chapter posted: March 2nd, 2005.


	3. Chapter 3: An Emperor's Fate is 'Sealed'

A/N: Once again I break my pact with myself to not use author's notes after the first chapter, so that I can once again break my typing schedule, and once again prove I exist, by writing something for you, the reader, to spend five to fifteen minutes reading, and hopefully enjoy. Ahem.

The real reason for this author's note is to inform you of what may be a confusing feature soon appearing, so that there will be no need to boost my ego with meaningless reviews asking about it. Every so often, instead of Myoga's Character Bios, you'll see writings at the beginning of the chapter that appear to be comments, almost afterthoughts, of a certain character, based on the previous chapter's events. Though this character's identity will be hidden for many more chapters, readers of the Shaman King manga should have no problem realizing who it is.

Now that that's settled, here's the first of such sections, and the beginning of another Spirit of the Heart chapter.

00000

I really have to take Joey's side for this one, as scary as it is to agree with him. An entire world made of computer data... even its vast number of creatures. And every one of these creatures had bizarre, supernatural powers, even the weakest of them (in case anyone forgot humans cannot shoot spit bubbles at high velocity.) Though they would later realize it was not a Heartless trap, it was still a cause of much paranoia: knowing that they could be viewed on a computer screen...

?

XXXXX

"I see... so, you think your boss accidentally got pulled in through his labtop? Ouch.. I can see how that'd be bad for buisiness." Kari nodded, not noticing the nervous glances shared between Yoh and Joey. She directed her next comment to Kaiba, creator of this impromptu excuse. "So, any idea where he wound up? If he came in through a TV in this world, it would usually show the surroundings on the monitor."

"None whatsoever." Kaiba answered truthfully. "However, Mr. Muto's recent napkin scribbles during meetings all seem to be things your friend has described; the black rings, towers..."

Kari grimaced. "That... doesn't sound good. Maybe he's a Digidestined from several years ago... there were supposed to be a group before the one me and my brother were in four years ago. He might have gone to try and take out the Emperor... but I doubt he could! Thanks to those towers, Digimon aren't able to Digivolve within a certain area..."

"Digivolve?" Yoh inturrupted from the back. Kari nodded again, her expression lightening at his curiousity. "It's what Digimon do when they grow up... sorta. They become stronger, usually much larger, and have far more powerful attacks. And the forms they take can be pretty surprising, especially in cases like Gatomon here."

Her partner grinned proudly at that comment, causing the young shaman to blink in confusion. "What does she-"

"If that's true, then how have you lasted this long?" Kaiba cut in, his tone suspiscious. "If this Emperor takes control of large numbers of Digimon, and your own are unable to increase their strength, then why haven't you and your friends already lost this war?"

"Kari and the others found special Digieggs, which either became or transformed their Digivices into the new D3s. These Digieggs give us the power to Armor Digivolve into more powerful forms, though we'd be much stronger if we could Digivolve naturally." Gatomon explained, glaring back at him. "In fact, I'm a Champion Digimon, which would make me roughly as powerful as an Armor Digimon... if I still had my special tail ring... now I'm more like a Rookie..."

'Not exactly a helpful statement for a defensive argument.' Kaiba thought. "Regardless, it seems that we have a common enemy, then. My friends and I are obviously capable of fending for ourselves, but it would be best to temporarily team up, and possibly rescue Mr. Muto."

The brunette smiled. "Sure thing. Just lemme contact the others... maybe they've heard something from the Digimon they've freed today..."

As she pulled out PDA-like object from her pocket, starting to write a message, Kaiba walked back to his two teammates, motioning for a huddle.

"I can't believe she bought that... and what's with the 'Mr. Muto,' Kaiba? I'd have thought you'd make it out that you were the boss of that.. whatever company."

"A holographic technology and game producing company, Wheeler." Kaiba commented, his voice almost disbelieving. "The exact same kind as MY company! Does your brain even recieve oxygen, or do you breathe just to hinder those around you out of spite for their intelligence?"

"Guys, please stop arguing..." Yoh said pleadingly. "We have another problem now. We have to help your King get away from the Emperor!"

Kaiba just stared, looking between the two...then put a palm over his face, shaking his head. "We're doomed."

"Why do you- OH! I get it now!" Yoh said, grinning widely. "Heh, sorry, I kinda got caught up in the story... but why'd you say that, anyway? I mean, I wanted to help, myself, but you don't seem like the kind to offer aid to complete strangers without being pestered for hours."

Kaiba glared harder after this innocent question. "None of your buisiness...besides, for all we know, the King might truly have come here to do this. Also, this Emperor sounds like the perfect person to attract Heartless... leaving him unchecked would dangerous."

"Got it!" Kari suddenly exclaimed. The trio broke their circle to face her as she placed the device away. "Izzy says that a large number of Control Spires are being made in a concentrated area... even more than some of the usual places we've seen! Also, large numbers of controlled Digimon and Heartless are moving toward this area... T.K. and Yolei haven't even seen guards near the towers they've taken out.

"Obviously, this Emperor is trying to hide something in that region." Amidamaru commented.

"Just what Izzy thinks. We should probably check it out." Kari agreed. She turned, and the group started walking, following her to the location Izzy sent her.

It took several seconds and numerous back glances from the girl and her Digimon before the four offworlders exclaimed, "YOU CAN SEE HIM!"

XXXXX

Several hours, an explanation about Amidamaru, and a few miles later, the four humans waited behind the edge of the forest, quietly watching several dozen Digimon and Heartless patrol around something, but unable to see what without risking discovery.

"Ironic as it is for me to say this, it's a pyramid." A large, sphinx-like creature said, landing and transforming back into a small white cat. Gatomon brushed back her ears before continuing. "Every few minutes, another Control Spire appears, and they pluck it out, then add it to the structure. I don't think they're close to finishing, but it's already larger than Apocalymon was. That's with the big, Rubix Cube-like thing, obviously."

"No problem; it just makes it easier to tear down later. But there's likely someone inside it, and even if it IS just Ken, we can't risk destroying it until it's abandoned."

"Ken? Is that the Emperor's real name?" Yoh asked, as Amidamaru floated back to him, changing from Spirit Ball Mode into his normal self.

Kari nodded, a sad expression visible. "Yeah... this may come as a shock, but the Digimon Emperor is Ken Ichijouji."

"Who?" Joey asked, earning another glare from Kaiba as Kari suddenly seemed shocked.

"You're an executive from a huge company and you haven't heard of Ken! You haven't even tried hiring him!"

"Oh yes, I must've forgotten to mention that Mr. Wheeler is the janitor of our building." Kaiba quickly said, adding a scathing tone. "Between cleaning twenty-plus stories weekly and applying for proper citizenship, while avoiding immigration through our sources, he doesn't watch much TV."

Yoh fused with Amidamaru in time to hold Joey back, whose hands were making strangling motions as he reached for the liar mage. Kari explained, "Well, he's a boy genius, for one, and a star athlete for another. Thousands claim he's some kind of miracle, and he's already recieved several grant and college offers. He comes from a pretty average family, but he'll probably be a multi-billionaire when he's older... if we don't have to lock him up."

"Sounds like yet another person I know." Joey stated coldly, calming down.

"Guys, really, PLEASE stop arguing!" Yoh practically ordered. "If we act fast, we'll only have to take out the enemies right in front of the entrance-"

"No!" Kari and Gatomon both shouted. Gatomon stepped forward. "The Heartless may be fair game, but those Digimon are innocent! You can't kill them!"

"Of course, there'd be a complication." Kaiba sighed. "Fine... those rings are what control them, right? So, we destroy the Heartless, but only aim for the rings on the Digimon."

"... I believe the two of us can handle this alone." Yoh said, earning stares from his allies. "Wait here."

Before anyone could protest, he leapt from the foilage into the suddenly barren land, and raced toward the large, black pyramid. The others ran forth to help...and witnessed what appeared to be a white and green blur zooming across the section of the structure they faced. It slowed to reveal Yoh, striking a pose with his blade behind him... then every Heartless in the mass vanished, the Digimon falling unconscious, suddenly ring-less.

Kaiba recovered first. "What in the name of all that's sane and holy was that!"

"100 percent integration... I'm proud that Yoh reached this level so fast, despite the little amount of time we've spent together." Yoh commented, Amidamaru's voice dominant. "Earlier you saw him wielding scarcely 10 percent of my full strength... but with discipline and unison of thought, he tapped into my true abilities!"

Suddenly, Amidamaru appeared by Yoh, who then proceded to fall to his knees, gasping for breath. "However, this takes a far greater tol on Yoh's body than normal integration. Though I can somehow tell he will be even better at it by the time we call on it again, based on the rate he's somehow improving, it will be dangerous to sustain 100 percent integration for much longer."

"... half of that was lost on me, I'll go ahead and admit, but; that was freakin' awesome!" Joey exclaimed.

"Cure." Kaiba said plainly, and Yoh suddenly came to his feet, a green light healing his body. "We need to enter the pyramid now, before the enemies on the other sides reach this side. At least it was too big to run across easily.. let's go!"

"I'll stay here and contact the others!" Kari called after them. Yoh turned to grin confidantly back at her, then led his allies into the enemy's stronghold...

XXXXX

(Flashback)

"So, these Heartless...they can help me conquer the Digital World?"

"That, and much more besides, young Emperor. They are the ones who can lead us to the greatest power imaginable..."

"Hmm... well, color me interested. So, what do you want in exchange for the ability to control these creatures?"

"Want? I don't see what I could possibly want from you... this is about what you want, not me."

"Really. I guess I should just accept them without any suspiscion they'll turn on me, then..."

"Of course. They're your loyal servants from now on...if any try and resist, use your rings. In fact, go ahead and use them; the dark energy gives them a very helpful boost."

" ...why? Why are you telling me all this?"

"Because, my friend, I know you are obsessed with bettering yourself, a trait I share, myself. If you want, I can gladly accept you as a member of my organization; a group of equals, conquerers all, who wish to obtain absolute power... and, with the help of these Heartless, you, Digimon Emperor, can finally obtain the freedom you long so deeply for..."

"...you have a deal, friend."

(End Flashback.)

For several minutes, the team saw nothing but the seemingly endless hall they ran through. Except for the light from a fireball at the end of Kaiba's staff, there was nothing illuminating their path. They met no opposition, not even the slightest hint of inhabitance... and then, just before Joey voiced a complaint...

They had obviously come to the center of the pyramid.. they saw similar tunnels on the right and left walls, and the room was massive; big enough to hold at least three football stadiums, lit with several gigantic torches...

The main feature of the room, however, were the Heartless and Digimon in the center, the latter consisting of several gigantic insects, the former like the Soldiers from earlier...only enlarged to match their digital peers in size. They were all hacking and clawing away at the room's center, which was already becoming a large crater.

"I guess, without hearts, they didn't have to worry about abusing steroids too much.." Kaiba growled, his fire vanishing as he prepped himself for a fight. "Yoh; how long can you sustain 100 percent unity?"

"I dunno...about a minute, I guess." The Keyblade Master answered, sounding slightly dissapointed at himself. "Sorry it can't be longer..."

"That should work... focus on freeing the Digimon, and get as many hits on the Heartless as you can. Wheeler and I will focus our attacks on one at a time, so you should also try distracting the others, if possible-"

"How rude. Uninvited guests who won't even introduce themselves." A loud, jeering voice called. A large, black, dragon-like Digimon with an extra pair of arms suddenly flew toward them. Their quickly readied battle stances were needless, however, as a figure jumped from the beast onto the ground in front of them. The creature landed, and every other monster behind it suddenly turned to face them.

The boy in front of them was slightly shorter than Joey, with an insanely fuzzy blue hairstyle, a pair of mirrored glasses, a cape, and a sci fi-ish suit covering the rest of his body. He crossed his arms and gave them a smirk that put Kaiba's to shame. "Allow me to introduce myself; I am the Digimon Emperor!"

"So we gathered." Yoh stated coldly, glaring. "Why are you doing this to these Digimon, and how are you controlling the Heartless? Better yet, what makes you think you have a right to do this?"

"I can, trade secret, and I'm the most superior being there is." He answered swiftly. "By the way, cool samurai ghosty thing."

Yoh blinked. "You...you can see him?"

Joey stepped up before an answer could come. "Get in line behind Kaiba, Ichijoujou! You can't claim you're superior until you have a shouting match with him!"

"That's Ichijouji...waitasec, HOW DARE YOU CALL ME THAT!" He shouted, suddenly looking furious. "My name is the Digimon Emperor; I'm not some useless human, I'm the ruler of the Digital World!"

"In other words, you are a child, one who is somehow ashamed of his family name." Amidamaru stated, glaring with contempt at the tyrant. "Regardless of your standing, a family is something you should be happy to have! Living alone after having one may seem unique, but it is a futile thought to believe you will always be happy for abandoning them!"

"Amidamaru..." Yoh said quietly.

'I see...probably orphaned at a young age.' Kaiba thought, fighting back his own nostalgia.

"I don't have to stand here and take this from a bunch of underevolved ingrates and a dead guy!" The Emporer spat. "Below this area lies the seal of an incredible power...and I will use that power to conquer the Digital World! Heh, and that Keyblade of yours will be an admirable blade to complete my royal image! Heartless! Devidramon! Kuwagamon! ATTACK!"

Yoh merged with Amidamaru and charged, going past the Emperor and under a Kuwagamon he leapt, then slashed a Heartless, sending it toppling backward, and cut the ring from a Devidramon.

Joey hurled his shield at the falling Heartless, and Kaiba cast a Fire spell around it from a distance. It blazed through the beast, which vanished like any other Heartless, and returned to the owner, still smoking slightly.

Yoh turned in midair, and gave a Celestial Slash to another large Soldier, destroying it instantly. He grinned, but failed to see the Crimson Claw of a Devidramon before it punched him into a wall. He bounced, temporarily unconscious, and the dragon moved to swallow him whole...

And instead started choking on a large amount of ice. Another Cure spell brought the Keybearer back to the waking world, and he cut the ring from the creature's neck, and smashed the ice into more managable cubes as he leapt to another target.

Joey grunted as the Kuwagamon pushed down with its pincers, hardly able to hold the shield up against the brute strength. Desperately, he reached into his pocket, being pushed to the ground and nearly crushed... but, somehow, the attack didn't affect him. Grinning, he chucked his shield onto the ring, which shattered... then quickly rolled away, before he was flattened, anyway.

Yoh freed the last Digimon... but suddenly felt pain course throughout his body. As he landed, Amidamaru exited him, and he drew a long, shallow breath. "Okay...more like...50 seconds.."

"Firaga!"

A huge pillar of fire came up behind him, and he jumped to safety purely out of surprise. He saw the telltale flash and realized the last Heartless has snuck up on him.

"Phew, that was close! Thanks, Kai-"

Kaiba was panting heavily, walking toward him in a menacing manner. "That took up almost all of my reserves... high level spells like these take stamina to use in conjunction, idiot! You think that was a normal Blizzard that kept you off the menu? Or I helped you regain consciousness with a rookie's variant of Cure?"

"I...uh...sorry, Kaiba." Yoh said sincerely, unaffected by the stance Kaiba currently held; the same stance he had already seen before Joey's head met the staff. Luckily, the mage seemed to accept the apology. "Just don't be such a reckless amatuer next time..you said you have a samurai in you when you do that? Act like it."

"That Emperor Ichijenga guy ran out through that hall!" Joey said, pointing at the one opposite their way of entrance. "We gotta catch him before he gets on something even uglier!"

"Who are you callin' ugly..." a Devidramon muttered. They followed Joey's plan before it could wake up.

00X00

Gatomon paced back and forth, nervous as she patrolled the now empty area around the pyramid. "It doesn't make sense...why'd all the Digimon suddenly leave?"

"I don't know..." Kari said, equally confused. "I just hope the others get here soon.."

Suddenly, she felt a cold chill up her spine. She turned around, and gasped at the figure racing toward her.

XX0XX

It appeared that this hallway, unlike their first one, was not an entrance. They were now inside a a much smaller room, but it was sleek and silver, and still quite spacious...in front of them was the Digimon Emperor, facing away, and at his feet was another boy his age, with long, bluish hair and a grey school uniform.

"Hey, Ichijoujerky!" Joey shouted. "Who's that, and why'd you take this path! It's a dead end!"

"That's quite obvious, fool! And, to answer your questions in reverse, to make things interesting...and THAT'S Ichijouji, peon!"

He turned...and revealed something new. On his chest, glowing palely in the chrome room, was the Heartless insignia. With a wide sneer, he pointed a black divice forward...and a large Digimon, like a black, larger Kuwagamon, appeared...the same symbol on it's chest.

"Using the powers of the Heartless, I was able to assimilate this physical form! I am the TRUE Digimon Emperor, finally free of my disgusting ties to humanity!" He shouted, laughing maniacally as he concluded.

"So that's the real Ken?" Yoh said, slightly amazed to see how normal he seemed. Amidamaru warped in front of the tyrant, waved his hand, then came back. "Yoh-dono, he can no longer see me..."

"That's right... only people with good in their hearts can see spirits.." Yoh said softly...before appearing determined, taking his battle stance. "Okay, guys! He isn't human, so don't be afraid to use force! I don't think that thing's a Digimon, either, so let's fight to win!"

The Emperor vanished in the same light as all Heartless...and the insect charged.

Yoh and Joey both raced forward, Keyblade and shield bared. Kaiba shot a Fire in between them, and they struck the place it hit simultaneously.

The monster, it seemed, could care less, and grabbed both of the melee fighters, flinging them in opposite directions.

"Idiots! Aerora!" The mage called, slowing their descent..then fell to his knees. "Gck... my energy.."

"Yoh-dono, we have to finish this fast! We are already weak from battle, and can't hold out much longer!" Amidamaru said as they landed, though continued floating, due to the shield of air around them.

"I know, I know... we have to fully integrate again!"

"No! You've used 100 percent integration far too much for your level, regardless of how fast you've improved! If you try and harder, it could kill you!" Amidamaru gasped.

Yoh grinned confidantly, and rolled to dodge an attack, impressed by the speed the air gave him. "Think about it Amidamaru... i don't know how, but we seem to be improving by stages...every time we integrate, I've grown much stronger with you than the last time.. I don't know how...maybe it's the Keyblade, maybe it's just some twist of fate.. but I bet it could happen again!"

"Yoh-dono..."

"Okay, let's do this; I'll integrate just long enough for one attack, and put everything we have into it! If I survive, we win! If not...well, I hope Kaiba can make another tablet, so we can both come along with those two.."

"Yoh, please, we shouldn't risk everything on one attack." Amidamaru pleaded. "You don't remember me...and I don't know how you're even alive...but I don't want to be seperated from you again..."

"Enough with the shoujo manga emotion, already!" Kaiba yelled, charging forth, pulling a card from his pocket. "I summon the Blue Eyes White Dragon!"

Yoh and his spirit ally gaped. A large dragon, with pure white, seemingly scaleless skin, large wings, and a head that matched the ship named after it, appeared, roaring loudly.

"Burst Stream of Destruction!" It's summoner commanded. A large beam of pure white energy blasted into the large bug, pushing it into the wall for several seconds, until the dragon vanished into thin air.

"Eradicating Aerosol!" Joey shouted, pointing a card at the fallen creature, which shot a large cloud of what appeared to be insecticide over it. It twitched in pain, immobile, and Joey grinned at the amazed shaman. "It's all yours, Yoh!"

"Right!" Yoh said, recovering. He leapt into the air, fused with Amidamaru once more, and pulled the blade from all the way behind him, with both hands, swinging and shouting the attack. "HALO BLADE!"

A golden arc of light cut clean through the wounded beast, which, like the Guard Armor before it, dissapeared in an explosion of light-like dust.

Yoh landed, de-fused, then promptly fell to the ground, out like a light.

"Sweet move, Kaiba! I didn't think you had the energy to do anything, let alone summon our old pal, BEWD!"

"Yeah, well... ethers only cost a few thousand munny, anyway." He defended, looking over the sleeping hero. "I'm impressed, though... he must have reached his maximum strength, to have pulled that off... but I guess his stamina wasn't brought up to the max just because he was."

"Yeah...I hate RPGs like that."

"This isn't a game, Matrix fanatic."

"You're one to talk, Neo-wannabe!"

"You could stop arguing and heal him anytime, you know." Amidamaru said blandly.

00000

The healed Keybearer and his partners walked back into the massive center of the complex to see Gatomon racing toward them.

"Huh? What's wrong, Gato-"

"Kari's been kidnapped!" She cried out, "Ken and some weirdo in a baboon suit dissapeared with her!"

"What!" Yoh gasped, running to meet her, an kneeling to eye level. "Do you have any idea where they went?"

"No.." The feline answered, voice cracking." But... somehow, I can tell, she's not here anymore... not in the Digital World..."

A solemn silence fell between the four. Joey sighed. "Great... we come this far, risk our necks to save a world from some schoolboy, then we lose the only friend we've made here immediately afterward..."

"I'm sorry, Gatomon..." Yoh said, looking down shamefully. "I... well..."

"Don't be." A mumbling, sincere voice said. They turned to see a green, glowworm-like creature, who was dragging the real Ken's boy along by a net of silk. "It's my fault for not looking after Ken better... he could've been spared all this if I weren't a coward."

"Wormmon?" Gatomon said, surprised. "Oh, yeah.. you're Ken's partner, aren't you... WHAT! How's Ken behind you!" She leapt and tackled the small creature to the ground. "Where's Kari, dirtbreath!"

Kaiba took the initiative to pull her off, or rather, lift her off with an Aero spell, to which she responded with a very catlike way, squirming and aiming with her feet. "Calm down, cat; that's not the Ken you want to claw up."

Wormmon pushed himself to his many legs. "Again, I'm sorry... I don't know where the Digimon Emperor has gone... but I hope you can find your friend. And now that he's left, maybe Ken can finally start recovering..."

Yoh smiled, and started to comment on this, but yet another surprise manifested itself; the Keyblade appeared in his hand, and suddenly flung toward the room's center, carrying him along. Looking down amidst his panic he saw a large shape, like a keyhole, in the center of the hole that had been dug earlier. The Keyblade point straight down, fired a beam of light into it, then slowly carried Yoh back down. A resounding clicking sound echoed in the empty chamber.

Two humans, a Digimon, and a ghost stared blankly. Yoh simply turned, the same expression on his face. "What, you think I know what happened?"

"Of course, you don't. It's understandable you would be confused, after sealing your very first Keyhole."

The group turned, prepared to battle anything new...but found, instead, what appeared to be a mere human in front of them. He was wearing a tight-fitting, acrobat-like suit, which was blue and white, with an odd one-eyed symbol in the middle of three triangles. His mouth was covered in wrappings, as were his hands and most of his hair, of which a small number of blonde locks poked out. Hie eyes were a blazing red, and the minimal skin shown of his face was softly tanned.

"Allow me to explain what I can of who I am." He continued. His voice was very calm, and somehow soothing. "My name is Sheik... last of the Sheikah, from the destroyed world of Hyrule. I come here on behalf of... one who is imprisoned in the same place as your friend, Kari, now resides."

"You know where she is?" Gatomon asked, desperately.

The mysterious one shook his head, his calm eyes closing. "Yes... but I cannot reveal that to you, yet. I am only here to guide the Keybearer, his friends, and any ghosts amongst their party. However, rest assured she will not be harmed... I would, however, grieve for the Emperor... the alliance he has joined will be his end when these three again stand against him."

"We're not gonna grieve for some megalomaniac with a God complex-no offense, Kaiba-so forget that!" Joey said bitterly. "But whaddya' mean, 'guide' us?"

Surprisingly enough, Sheik's eyes almost hinted at a grin beneath the wrappings. "As it is, the three of you are powerful... Yoh's unison with Amidamaru, combined with the strict trainings you and the High Mage have gone through, enabled you to liberate this world with ease. Although recently created, the Heartless Okuwamon you just defeated was stronger than an experienced Ultimate... I'm sorry to say, Gatomon, you and your allies would have been wiped out by it. However, much greater challenges lie ahead, and you cannot rely on your power to pull you through. Many enemies in your path are much stronger than all of you, as it is, and plan far much more ahead."

He walked forward, and placed something in Yoh's hand. Looking down, the boy saw it was an ocarina; blue and finely crafted, with the emblem of a triangle made of three smaller, golden triangles. "This is my... my mistress's family's sacred treasure, the Ocarina of Time. It was held and used by the Hero of Time in his great adventures to save Hyrule from a darkness of great power... the same darkness that eventually attracted the Heartless. You can use it's power to play melodies of potent magic, all of which will aid you in the future."

"Wow..." Yoh said, wide-eyed as he examined the instrument. "It has such a deep aura... whoever held this, no question... he was even stronger than Amidamaru..."

"Truly?" The samurai asked, enthusiastic instead of angry. "Then we must meet him! I'd love to spar with such a great warrior!"

"Unfortunatly, that is not possible..," Sheik said bluntly, facing away. His voice suddenly seemed strained. "He... the Hero's power came from his heart... his immense Courage drove him to defend Hyrule to the last. He did not make it off of Hyrule..."

Another tense, sickening silence came to them. Sheik shook his head, and a golden harp materialized in his hand. "The Ocarina is not difficult to play, and the songs it hears are stored in it's aura; you will remember how to play a song when you place it to your lips. This melody... is the tune that spans the ages. Play this, and time itself will aid you... now that you have reached the fullest power of integration, which you once held, long ago, this song will begin to unlock your true shamanic ability, young Keybearer... listen well."

Three simple chords...only three plucks of the harp..and yet the sound that came from them seemed truly eternal, and stayed in the air, and in their minds...

Yoh placed the small item to his mouth, and played, as if he had known how all along, the same tune... as he finished, a small aura formed around the Ocarina...and a much larger variation above himself. He started at the instrument as it sparkled, and looked to the pleased-looking Sheikah. "Very good... this is the Song of Time. Whenever you seal a world's Keyhole, you lock the door to that world's heart, so the Heartless can never reach it. Play this song whenever you do so, as an offering to those worlds that could not be saved the same way... and your shamanic potentials shall be further unlocked. In this case, you can now summon your Furyoku."

"My Fury-who?"

"Furyoku." Amidamaru answered, looking happy, himself. "I'll explain the details when it's neccessary, but it's much more powerful than our integration..in fact, our integration is a cheap parlor trick by comparison. It's the true method of shaman battles..."

Sheik made his harp vanished, then looked them all in the eyes, serious. "Many worlds lie ahead of you... you must seal them, no matter what! I will not stand before you again until another world is safe from the Heartless, but when I do, another song, and another aid to your quest, await."

The group nodded, taking it in... but Kaiba seemed confused, moreso than Joey because he realized Sheik's use of grammar. 'He said potentials, not potential...what does he mean?'

"Until we meet again." The warrior suddenly threw something to the ground, and a bright flash caused them all to turn their heads, their eyes shutting fiercely. When they opened, their was no sign Sheik had ever been there...

XXXXX

Kaiba: My name is Seto Kaiba, but you will call be Kaiba. A long trip through Gummi Space stands between us and the next world we have coordinates for, but thankfully, we aren't in the mood to spend it in arguments. Our dissapointment in losing Kari seems to be affecting even Myoga... but the endless darkness around us reminds Yoh of a strange dream he had, the day before his world was wiped out... if anything, it's better than hearing him practice that annoying ocarina...

Next time, on Spirit of the Heart: Dive into the Heart! Wheeler, you have five seconds to stop eating popcorn in my ship...

Chapter posted: March 25th, 2005. 


	4. Dive into the Heart

A/N: Sigh, yet another oathbreaking author's note... about the text last chapter, and possibly in future chapters...

FFN seems to go off and on about letting me edit my text in the Document Manager of this site... somtimes, it comes to me fast...sometimes, as was the case in this fic's 2nd chapter, it can take hours. Other times still it won't work at all, as last chapter didn't. If I can, I WILL improve the appearance by italics, bold stuff, underlines (although those are almost done, anyway, now that Yoh can use his Oversoul), and if I can't... I won't. Sorry.

Also, this chapter is short. Compared to the other three, VERY short. Future ones will be longer, and this IS a 'non-world' chapter, but it's still too short for my tastes. Again, sorry.

00000

Myoga's Character Bios.

Gatomon - A Champion level, Vaccine type Digimon of the feline nature. Gatomon is Kari's partner and a very sly cat, to boot. She would be more powerful with her golden tail ring, which was lost in an early encounter against the Digimon Emperor. She used to be on the wrong side, but broke free of her master Myotismon and rejoined Kari, as she was meant to, in Digimon 01, the first season of Digimon.

Ken Ichijouji - A boy genius and incredible athlete, Ken became the unwilling focus of an experiment with dark powers, which spurred him on to become the Digimon Emperor. In the real world, his parents long to be closer to him, and have been worried sick since he made the Digital World his permanant home. He made amends with his partner, Wormmon, when his arc ended in Digimon 02, the second season of Digimon.

Wormmon - A Rookie level, Virus type Digimon of the insectoid nature. Wormmon was Ken's Digimon partner, but was pushed away as the young man continued down the path of darkness. His love for his friend never died, however, and he supported him until the very end...then came back, and finally resumed his guardian-like position. He first wiggled into our hearts in Digimon 02.

Sheik - A mysterious man claiming to be from Hyrule, a world already taken by the Heartless. He is named after his race, the Sheikahs, of which he is the last surviving member. The Sheikahs have been the guardians of Hyrule's royal family members for ages, and it is on the orders of one such individual he aids Yoh and the others in their quest... or so he claims. He taught the Hero of Time songs that saved the world in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

00000

The roar of the Blue Eyes White Gummi Ship's engines was unheard in the ship's spacious interior... which was a very good thing. The minds of all four inhabitants were loud enough, racing through the events of the day, pondering the identity of their mysterious benefactor, and dealing with the guilt that someone they had barely just befriended was taken from right under their noses.

Yoh originally thought practicing his new instrument would help the nervous atmosphere, and for a while, it did... the ocarina's energy allowed him to play the full Song of Time as if he knew it by heart. However, when he tried varying from the path, testing out the notes, the sound nearly caused Kaiba to steer the ship into an asteroid. The brown-haired shaman sighed as he placed the item back into a small brown backpack Kaiba had found in the storage room, then looked out to view the wide, empty scene in front of the ship.

"So, where are we going?" He asked glumly.

"No idea. The only planet with a survivable atmosphere and a chance of us NOT breaking the laws of Gummi Space travel is our destination, but all I know about it I said earlier this sentance." Kaiba replied blandly. "And, unfortunately, the scanner shows that it's a LOT like the Digital World; for instance, made of data. Which means more of Wheeler's paranoia..."

"It's not paranoia; it's common sense!" Joey said defensively. Kaiba rolled his eyes.

"Even if that could POSSIBLY be described as common sense, who did you have to steal it from, anyway? Some anti-penguin extremist android scouring the south pole for evidence of a takeover plot?"

"...what in the world did you just say, again? I lost you...and not by ignoring you...about halfway through that insult."

Growling, the mage turned back to his controls. "Forget about it."

Yoh looked with the spellcastor, viewing the vast, black nothingness outside the screen in front of them. Occasionally, a needlessly bright-colored building, or something like one, would float by, accompanied by a Heartless assault that the ship took out in seconds, but aside from that, all they could do was wait until a world appeared in front of them...

An endless, never-changing darkness...

Yoh shook his head, suddenly wide awake. "Whoa...talk about de ja vu."

"Really?" Joey asked, eagerly. "Please explain; if nothing else, it's gotta be somethin' more interesting than this!"

"Well, it was just a dream... a really, really weird dream... with lots of references to doors, keys, and..."

Yoh's eyes were wide open, now. "There were Heartless in it!"

Kaiba's own interest suddenly sparked as well. "Seeing as you're the owner of the only means to stop them, it might make sense that you had some sort of preliminary vision...a kind of 'test' so to speak."

The shaman frowned, trying to recall what had happened, and relayed what he could to his friends...

XXXXX

He floated downward through darkness, a dim light above illuminating the platform he landed on by a small amount.

'So, you've finally been brought here...' A strange voice spoke in the void. 'To this place of emptiness, yet all existance. You're not a moment too soon, yet far too early to suceed..'

The brown-haired shaman looked all around, searching for the speaker, until he noticed a new ray of light at the platforms center. He could now see the area clearly; it looked like a mural. A small girl, less than half his height, was surrounded by several shadowed creatures, and closer in a series of weapons, including knives, axes, and, oddly enough, a glowing green bracelet. The girl herself had her eyes closed, her long white hair matching her dress, which seemed to be flapping in the wind...she looked like a ghost.

He stepped into the center, his feet on the bracelet, and three red beams of light flew from his feet to different parts of the circle, transforming into three pillars. Three items, a sword, a shield, and a staff, appeared, and each chose a platform to rest on.

'The Sword implies a Warrior, courageous, but also destructive... the Shield represents a Guardian, with many friends to protect, yet hides insecurity within... the Staff represents a Mystic... unbridled inner strength, but beware of the danger overconfidence brings... what do you choose?'

Yoh realized this was testing his character... but the instincts Anna had drilled into him recognized a soon-to-be battle, as well. Then again, he was a slacker. He walked to the shield and slipped it over his right arm, grinning.

'Very well, young Guardian... what will you sacrifice for this power?'

Giving something up would be more difficult. For a few minutes, the question of a difference between inner strength and courage boiled in his normally unstrained mind... until the young shaman just decided to wing it, as usual. He used the shield to strike the staff, and it spiralled into the void.

Murky blackness erupted from below him, and before he could register a danger, he was pulled under... when his eyes opened, he found a new platform to reside on.

This one depicted a woman, possibly three or four years older than him, wearing a pink and white dress, with long golden hair. Her ears were pointed, her eyes closed, and from her somber pose, she seemed to not notice the hulking figure behind her, with demonic eyes and a beast-like form. Another figure was in front of her, wearing a completely green outfit, aiming a glowing arrow at the beast, and three large, gold triangles surrounded them all.

In front of him, a large door appeared out of thin air. 'This is not the door you seek... yet you must enter it all the same. In time you will find the true door...but for now, your path leads to this detour.'

Yoh entered...and found himself back home. On the large wooden bridge along the cliffs of Destiny Island, with three of his closest friends around him. However, all three appeared to be in a trance; they stared at him, lightless eyes intent on his every move.

'I can see you are surprised, though this will only test your natural reactions, regardless. Your friends will ask you one question each... speak truthfully, so I can find your path.'

00000

"So, what'd they ask ya?" Joey inquired, on the edge of his seat. Kaiba 'accidentally' moved the ship to hit a small asteroid on the knight's side of the ship, and Joey fell off, meeting the ground at high speed.

"It was kinda complicated stuff... I guess... I didn't really understand it all. Something about what I was scared of, what I wanted to do, what did I cherish most.."

"You call things like that complicated?" Kaiba asked, suddenly feeling concerned for his ally's mental strength once more.

"Hey, I had no idea if it was one of Anna's tests! It wouldn't be the first time she invaded my dreams to try and train me! And if I answered wrongly, and it had been a test, I'd wake up tied to tree...again."

Joey had pushed himself back up, and into his seat, and now had a pitying look on his face. "Dude... you need to find a girlfriend with a longer lea...chain."

"Too late; I caught the 'leash' part, mutt." Kaiba smirked.

"Darn."

"Anyway..." Yoh said testily, trying to stop another argument before it began. "The voice said my adventure began in the morning.. whatever that meant, and then I was on another mural platform..."

XXXXX

Yoh was confused yet again; this mural was weird even compared to the first two. Another regal-looking young woman, this time in a completely pink dress, with blonde hair and a small crown, stood alone atop a tall tower. Below her, in the center, a ferocious battle was taking place between a turtle-like monster, with spikes all over it's shell, breathing flames as red as the length of hair it had, trying to incinerate... a short, slightly chubby man, wearing blue overalls, a red shirt and hat, the latter of which with a red 'M' emblem, wielding only a wooden mallet in defense of the fire.

The bizarre picture left his mind, however; several small Shadows appeared around him. After a short fight, the creatures retreated, and a long stairway appeared at the platform's side, leading to another in the distance.

He sensed more danger with every step, eventually reaching the new area. Unnatural vines and roots encircled a teenage girl, who had long black hair, a white and green high school uniform, and a fainly glowing arrow, about to shoot into the air. In the arrow's path was a small, pink, round jewel, which had an eerie light around it. Behind the girl, what appeared to be a shrine priestess her age looked away, her shadow going past the girl, seeming to be even larger than the mural could hold.

He stood in the strong pillar of light, near the girl with arrow, and his battle sense went haywire. 'The closer to get to the light, the stronger your shadow gets...even if your shadow made you seem insignificant before.'

From the shadow of the priestess rose a large being, it's chest appearing to be a gaping, heart-shaped hole. It's glowing yellow eyes stared down to Yoh, whose arm shook, the weight of the shield seeming to increase.

'But don't be afraid.' Yoh nearly gasped; it was a different voice. Apparantly much younger, with a more cheerful tone and easing sound than the earlier, deep, and forboading one. 'You possess the greatest weapon of all...'

The shadow moved to strike... and... changed.

0X0X0

Yoh snapped out of his trance, finding himself literally back on that platform, the safety of the BEWGS long gone. The creature was taller than it had been... and, in fact, was not similar at all the prior one.

Burning red...long antlers to either side of it's head... it's arms and legs long and powerful... it's blue eyes burning even brighter than the rest of it's body.

Yoh struggled to breathe, but not just out of fear; an intense heat had surrounded him... the area was on fire. Spreading from the monster's feat, the flames soon circled him completely. The beast raised one collosal fist, and swept it downward to reduce the shaman to ashes...

And at the last moment, Yoh heard the voice again...the one from the cave at destiny islands...his own voice, yet somehow darker... crueler...

'You're so small...'

00000

Myoga: Gack! Master Yoh collapsed on me! Oh, right; I'm Myoga the Flea, and we have a problem on our hands! Yoh's out cold, and we reach the new world before he awakens! In this bizarre land, the humans of our group take on strange new forms, called 'Player Characters', and inherit incredible new skills! With these, the Heartless won't stand a chance against us, and I can rest easy...huh? It's only a GAME! Sorry, gotta run!

Next time, on Spirit of the Heart: The Ways of "The World." Ack! Monsters everywhere!

Chapter Uploaded: May 15th, 2005 


	5. Chapter 4: A Whole New 'World'

A/N: Argh. I official decree my policy of avoiding author's notes useless, though I won't type one if it isn't neccessary. Today's excuse is my shortening of this chapter makes the previous chapter's 'next time' section useless. Because of my random decisions, I'm now swearing them off for good... maybe. 

**00000**

_Yoh conking out was never really something to be worried about before this adventure...but now it's because of pain/mysterious events, and it seems like he's doing it every five seconds! With their unofficial leader knocked out, you might've thought Kaiba and Joey would quickly procede to kill each other...if so, you'd be wrong. _- ?

**00000**

The medical bay on the BEWGS was usually empty...both because of it's cramped space and the ship's tendancy to jerk when Heartless ships rammed into it. Kaiba was doing his part from the bridge, monitering life readings as endless space in front of him continued to pass. Joey was nervously pacing around the ship, with Amidamaru floating alongside him, pacing without feet.

"Any change yet?" The hundreth question came as he returned to the bridge. Kaiba merely glared in response, and Joey sighed. "Sorry. Guess I'm just nervous...why d'ya think he passed out, anyway?"

"Maybe something in his memory startled him... or maybe he's just tired. I'm leaning to the latter, as, aside from unconscious bouts like this, he hasn't actually slept since he arrived in Traverse Town...that, and his vitals show he's only sleeping."

"I sensed something familiar...for a brief moment...when it happened." Amidamaru commented, frowning. He knew the feeling that had passed all too well. "I believe he recieved a startling vision.. a painful memory coming back."

"Memories?"

The samurai nodded. "I do not fully understand it, myself... the world I was born, raised, killed, and met Yoh in was not the island he remembers... I know that he is the exact same person, but he has no memory of me from before yesterday..."

A sudden bleeping sound from the ship brought them to attention. "Perfect timing... the new world's coming up." Kaiba said. "Try and wake up Yoh; we enter in five minutes."

**XXXXX**

Shadows crept alongside them as they walked...literally and figuratively. To keep from bumping into his new ally, the Emperor had turned the infra-red option in his glasses on... if he didn't find a humorous irony in the fact, he would have shivered at seing a complete blank where every Shadow should be. Ahead, the diguised man turned, looking at the former dictator as he started to open a large, cieling-high door.

"The chamber ahead leads to this castle's former throne-room, which you cannot enter." The baboon-cloaked man informed. "However, this is where our council meets. When not overseeing the events in their own worlds, all members have the run of the castle..not including the throne room, yet they somehow feel compelled to spend most of their time here..."

"Let me guess; endless bickering, bragging over petty plots, complaining for the low quality in snacks?"

"Two out of three." The figure chuckled, opening the door. "The snacks recieve no complaint."

Without warning the odd creature suddenly burst into dust, leaving only a small wooden figurine behind. Determined not to show surprise, the Emperor swiftly looked at the new room, which was dimly lighted by a large green sphere in the center of the table.

"Ah, the new kid." A blond-haired man said, noticing the entrance. He was tall and thin, with a moderately attractive face, wearing what appeared to be brown armor over most of his body. "The old ape _said_ someone was joining us. I have to say; it's a relief, not being the youngest member anymore."

"Age and reputation have little to do with the other." The Emperor spat, walking to the table. The older man grinned. "Quite right, forgive me. It's just hard to remember when the others are hundreds of years...or, in some cases, metric pounds, more than you."

"I heard that!" An angry voice came from the room below, accompanying a loud metallic crash.

The only other one at the table was much the same as the first...except his hair was much longer, and unarranged, falling below his neck. Unlike the other, he made no attempt to keep a pleasant expression on his face...or, currently, ANY expression. He wore a form-fitting white suit, which had eight strange slits in the back. His eyes held what seemed to be thousands of years worth of knowledge, and more than a bit of arrogance to go with it. The Emperor liked him already.

"Tell me..." he started, speaking to this new face," aside from the two of you, how many more members are in this 'council?'"

"Before you joined, I knew of six... including myself." His voice was sophisticated, controlled... for some reason, it didn't seem natural. "I was the second person our leader searched out."

"That gives you the lucky number, little man." The first one commented randomly. "Me? Sad to say, I'm the 'sixth' member. Lord Chimpy apparantly decided to offer my membership on a whim.."

"Glyde..." The other said slowly. "Please spare us your humorless, and possibly dangerous, mockery of the leader. Although I admit, he has faults in his...roots-that's not a joke, nimwit- he is still _much_ greater than the rest of the inferior beings in this castle."

"Ah, yes, your anti-human sentiments return..." The one now known as Glyde jeered. "How many Saimyosho crawled down your 'wingholes' today, Yiggy?"

"Yggdrasill." The tone held promises of pain.

"Whatever... so, do we give the guided tour ourselves, or wait for M.K.?"

"Neither. You can show your fellow monkey around the castle. I have things to take care of."

Before Glyde could comment further, a shining, crystal wing erupted from each slit, and Yggdrasill vanished in a pillar of light. "Short-tempered winged shoujo prettyboy.. ah, what can ya' do? Let's get going...whoever you are."

The younger villian smirked. "I am the Digimon Emperor."

"Your name sucks."

**00000**

His scans from Gummi Space had shown the world to be infinitely larger than the field he was now in, so Kaiba assumed it was a 'portal' world; a world where transportation between areas all but required some form of teleportation. As for the field itself, it looked to be no more than a vast grassland, with some odd pillars and ruins scattered around. All in all, the team's new looks were more impressive than the new area was.

The BEWGS's files had listed this as a Class D world with Class C traits... relatively meaning they needed to roughly look like native inhabitants, and it was likely they were the only offworlders present. Therefore, one of the countless features he had deemed 'ingenius' in his Gummi Ship activated; changing their appearance as they warped onto the world. Looking around at his allies, and himself, Kaiba wondered what ELSE was missing in this world's files...

His own outfit was a set of light blue robes, a white sash around his waist tightening them, so they were roughly form-fitting. His Sagii Staff's pole had lengthened so that, parallel to his chest, it would reach the ground easily.

Joey's appearance came close to matching that of his favorite monster's... orange armor over a bright blue bodysuit, the bottom half of a blue robe, and a familiar sword with runic emblems in a sheath tied to his back. The only thing missing was the orange helmet...but, having worn this outfit once before, he could safely say his neck was feeling relieved at its absence.

Yoh, from his snoozing form on the ground, had a less bulky, Yoh-sized version of Amidamaru's attire, complete with the two sword sheaths at his side and the red armor on his shoulders. Amidamaru himself seemed to have vanished... but this was a common occurance, anyway.

"Wheeler... as the resident expert in the field, is it really possible to sleep like that with armor?"

"Yeah...if you don't mind a cramp for the next few days." Joey answered, pulling Yoh to his feet. "Guess we just gotta drag him along until he snaps out of it."

Not ready to lose their sense of innapropriate punctuality, purple flashes encircled them, leaving a small brigade of Soldiers and Shadows behind. This time, however, a small green Heartless, vaguely bell-shaped, floated amongst it's comrades. Kaiba snarled. "A Green Requiem... magic's useless against it, and it heals its allies."

"Guess we 'got problem, then... unless..." Joey grinned, carefully reaching behind his back. Seemingly from out of thin air, he pulled out his shield. "Hey, Kaiba; PULL!"

The mage smirked as the disk-like object swirved in front of him, then blasted a Fire so that it bounced the shield into the floating Heartless, causing it to vanish in another dark flash. He hastily used a Thundara to clean out the other circling beasts.

More flashes came, but before he could move to strike again, two large fists struck him from the side. Kneeling to cover the wound, readiying a Cure, what looked like a blue, monkey-shaped Heartless flipped into view from behind him, then joined with its fellow beasts in the new squadron around them. "And Powerwilds...just great."

Joey staggered back, trying to avoid the pursuing primates. One of them flipped again, moving to attack Yoh... and met the Keyblade facefirst. "Yoh!"

Yawning, the young shaman stepped to the side. "Yeah...lemme guess; I blacked out again."

Joey pulled out his sword, and joined his drowsy friend in slashing through the beasts. "Not for too long... only injury we have so far's on Kaiba's end."

A Fira barely missed the knight as it blew up another Powerwild. "I'll remember that the next time YOU'RE suckerpunched by your family members."

"I thought Joey was a dog."

"Eh, people call me a 'Dueling Monkey' too- HEY!"

Yoh jumped to meet a small series of bell-shaped Heartless that appeared, each a different color, then swirled to slash them all. "How many sets was that?"

"Three...which is usually all." Kaiba replied, brushing some stray ice from a Blue Serenade off his arm. A combination of the last few types of enemies suddenly appeared. "...or not."

Before they could finish the fight, however, a series of green arcs of light blasted around them, each connected with a Heartless. When the beams vanished, the monsters they had caught went with them. Yoh glanced toward their point of origin in time to see an orange and teal blur dash into one of the many ruins around them...albeit a much larger one.

"What d'ya think _that _was?" Joey asked. "I'm no expert, but that sure as heck wasn't a magic attack..."

"How can you tell?" Yoh asked curiously. Amidamaru appeared behind him, scanning the area from his floating position.

"It's too long to explain right now, but Wheeler and I can tell the difference." Kaiba answered. "The problem now, though, is our next course of action. This field is large, and we're likely to alert several Heartless 'camps' if we move around to much. Added to that is the fact that we're searching for a Keyhole, and we can't be sure if it's even in this field or not..."

"Okay, then... we should follow that orange thing that ran into that place!" He pointed to the descending entrance in front of them. At the others' blank stares he added, "whatever it was, it didn't trigger any Heartless, at least..."

"I agree with Yoh's plan!" A small voice shouted immediately. Blinking, the young shaman pulled something from his right shoulder with his fingers. "Myoga!"

"Where the heck have you been!" Joey demanded of the minute demon. "I searched the ship ten times over since the Digital World, and never saw you!"

"Ah, yes... I've been in Yoh's headphones for a while now..." the flea admitted. "It just seemed like a... safer way to write the events of our adventures!"

Kaiba rolled his eyes as he turned to move. "I'm sure your concern was for the records... fine. Let's see if the Keyhole's anywhere in that dungeon."

**XXXXX**

Chapter posted: July 13th, 2005.

Next Chapter: Remnants of Waves


	6. Chapter 5: Remnants of Waves

**Myoga's Character Bios and Terminology.**

**B.E.W.G.S**.: Short for the _Blue Eyes White Gummi Ship_. Although many secret functions still remain to be revealed in this vessal, it is truly the easiest method of traveling across Gummi Space for anyone aquainted with its owner and designer, Seto Kaiba. Currently known features include a deceptively large interior, a computer navigation system not yet available to the public (copyright DDM Industries,) and several cannons illegally modified to draw and fire energy from adjacent lasers. The reasons for Kaiba's indifference to the law on this matter are moot point, as it serves to save the entire universe... apparantly.

**DDM Industries**: Short for Dimensional Direction Mechanics, founded by Duke Devlin, a longtime sponser of Gummi Ship technology and rumored aquaintance of the King. DDM controls over 76 percent of all Gummi-related trade and research, and was one of the three companies that funded construction of Traverse Town.

**World Classes**: A set of terms signifying a world's level of contact with other worlds; must be strictly enforced to undermine the importance of outsiders.

**Class C**: A world with little to no outside contact. Completely restricted except in emergency situations, usually a technologically underdeveloped world.

**Class D**: Worlds that require special disguises or arrangements to inhabit. Usually either hazardous to outside life (via atmosphere, residents, or otherwise,) or heavily populated with xenophobic citizens. The rules of Classes A, B, or C usually apply as well.

**XOXOX**

Kite wasn't normally nervous... wait, no, that was a lie. He wasn't normally_this_ nervous. Being a level 99 Twin Blade with maxed out weaponry and stats made it so he could afford a slight sense of safety, even on a solo dungeon quest in a Field that was reported to be bugged...

That had changed a week ago. Monsters appeared without having their seals triggered...in Fields, Root Towns, even in Net Slum, these strange black creatures, most of which had a heart-shaped emblem, attacked player characters, NPCs, and monsters alike.

Their appearance... and, in fact, existance, was a mystery to CC Corp and the rest of _'The World_.' Helba had mentioned that they weren't normal monsters, not even really programs...shortly before she vanished. And this time, he knew she really_had_ vanished, and not in the usual way... she should have at least sent an e-mail by now.

Aura had dissapeared, too. Kite had made regular visits after returning to _'The World'_, and meeting his successor of sorts, Shugo, but on the day of the first attacks, she was nowhere to be found. Because of her absence, there was now no way to possibly figure out what these creatures where... and how to stop the attacks.

Then, just two days ago, he had found HIM. At first, he had thought he was a rare monster, one not related to the black beings that thankfully had not found this area yet... until he noticed the injuries. Monsters either died at a player's hands, or recovered instantly when all players in their Field were defeated...so whatever he was, he wasn't a monster.

Then the thought of Vagrant AIs occured to him, but that was shot down almost immediately; he could be wrong, but the newcomer's personality was far too real to be a program. And so, every day since then, Kite had been hauling food-based items to this dungeon, and medical supplies to heal this odd creature.

Today, the black things found the Field. On top of that, three players (obviously high-level, as they had quickly fought off an entire squad of the beasts) had entered, as well...and had seen him use _Life Drain_. They could've handled it without him, sure, but his 'hero' reflexes were still as annoyingly strong as ever.

He continued running through the passageways of the Dungeon, ignoring the cries of "Golden Egg" from the small Grunty Food of the same name, as he had no time to waste (and all the different Grunty types, anyway.) As usual, the golden, glowing seal in front of the Gott Statue room glowed brightly, releasing several large, dragonoid monsters. The door behind him had sealed, so there was a chance the pursuing players would be deterred...

But that would leave him free to attack by the element-breathing monsters in front of him. And he wasn't in the mood to tell Black Rose he forgot to save before losing a fight, and his planned Gift for her, to monsters 40 levels weaker than him.

**00000**

"At least this 'orange blur' left a path for us!" Joey said as they dashed through the stony halls. They turned wherever an empty, overturned treasure chest had been found. "Think it's some kinda' Thief Heartless?"

"Although it's likely one such Heartless exists, why would it help us by slaying its own comrades? Besides... Heartless can't think that far ahead." Kaiba shouted from behind his two allies; while they moved slower as well, unaccostomed to their new armor, his robe was frustratingly difficult to run in.

Amidamaru sighed as he floated at the same speed as them. "That may be true, General, but it has been proven that the Heartless take orders from others, and it is likely that such leaders must have fairly decent tactics, in order to manipulate them."

They followed a staircase down. Then turned right. Three times. Joey sweatdropped as they found that same staircase in front of them. "Uh... Yoh? Maybe you should lead..."

This floor had few treasure boxes to direct them, but, after a few dizzying minutes of dashing around in circles, Yoh noticed a door they had passed... the gate that once covered it being gone. "This way!"

They screeched to a halt as they saw them... several large, reptilian corpses vanishing, replaced by old-looking chests. There only appeared to be one path remaining, so they ran across the small room. "Why do I get the feeling that-ACK!"

Yoh barely stepped backward, tripping into an impromptu backflip, which his allies barely avoided. The orange blur they had chased had nearly slashed him across the neck. As the mystery figure did a more complicated flip the the center of the room, a better examination was possible.

He appeared to be around Yoh's age, possibly just a bit taller, with bangs of teal hair protruding from under a large, rounded red hat with an orange burst shape on it. His clothes were red-orange with white sleeves, several yellow symbols haphazardly arranged on them. He wore several small brown sacks and bags, and held two seemingly normal knives so that the blades were below the hilts. His blue eyes held an odd amount of innocence, but the way they examined the group and their surroundings, added to the fire behind them, proved he was a trained fighter.

For a second, something green seemed to appear around his right hand, though only Yoh saw it, before he spoke. "Who are you? Didn't you read the message boards? This area is off-limits until the problem with these monsters is resolved! You shouldn't even have been able to access it!"

The shield-user and swordsman blinked in confusion, but Kaiba reacted quickly. "Really? If so, why are you here? And likewise, who are _you_?"

The Twin Blade scowled, his battle stance still held. "Don't try to act like a bunch of n00bs; this is a level 59 field, and you didn't break a sweat out there!"

"And that somehow means we should know who you are?"

Several tense seconds, and the thief-like fighter gave a slight sigh. "Normally, I'd be thankful someone didn't know who I am... but... meh. I'm Kite. The dotHacker. The Twilight Dragon if you believe those old rumors in the archives. And if you listen to the new ones," here he blushed considerably," Kite of the Azure Earth."

"Never heard of them." Yoh admitted, earning a glare from Kaiba. Kite nearly dropped his guard at that, but quickly recovered.

"Regardless, this Field and Dungeon are locked, so you could only get here by hacking. I'll ask once more, who are you?"

"Yoh Asakura!" The Keyblade master raised his hand.

"Joey Wheeler." The knight smirked.

"Kaiba." The mage said dully.

"Alright, then... Yoh, Joey, and Kaiba, if you have a Sprite Ocarina among the three of you, please use it, Gate out of the Field, save your game if you have to, and log out. If you got here by accident, there's at least a small chance I can save your characters from getting the heck banned out of them by Kamui."

"No!" Yoh said, going back to a fighting position. Kite warily noticed the Keyblade before he continued. "We HAVE to search this area! I can't say why, but it's really, really important!"

Kite glared again. "Then I'm sorry, but I can't let you do that. Don't say I didn't try and help you...seriously, I have enough flame wars against me."

Kaiba started the fight that instant, blasting a _Firaga_ from his staff...which missed by a humiliating length. By the time it reached Kite's previous location, the Twin Blade had flipped over it, side-jumped over him, then did a spinning slash across his back. A slash which, for all the pain is caused, left no blood...but had enough force behind it to propel the spellcastor into the wall on the other side of the room.

Joey charged for their assailant, who saw him coming, ducked under the swerving sword, and socked the knight in the chest with the bottom of his knives' hilts. As Joey released a pained burst of air, Kite did another flip, and Yoh had to swerve in mid swing to avoid his friend-made-torpedo, who he heard crash into the wall behind him.

He sensed Amidamaru asking him to fuse, but growled, ignoring it; he had to at least try and get stronger, himself, if Amidamaru was to gain strength.

Kite blocked the Keyblade with both weapons, so that a loud, swishing clang echoed around them. His own glare deepened as he saw the weapon's shape. "Take it from someone who completed the Item List; that weapon's a cheat. Did you make it, or get it from someone?"

Yoh's answer was a quick to the side of the thief's legs. Kite sheathed his knives mid-fall, so he could push himself away, but Yoh leapt into his path, and bashed his head with the key-shaped weapon.

The blazing red number **1783** came into Kite's eyes, mixed with the stars from the pain. That single strike had nearly taken a third of his **HP**... this guy was obviously NOT a regular player.

Though they had responded quickly, taking out the first two had been simple. Simple enough for him to weigh things in his mind about his foes' identities. The odd character designs...their presence in an unaccessible area... their appearant lack of knowledge of the most famous player in the game's history (he grimaced at that,) the weapon that didn't exist before today, and the nearly two thousand damage points with a single attack...

Even if he had reached level 99 as well, this 'Yoh' maintaned a story that would make him an intensely casual gamer..a contradictory fact on its own. But Kite had nearly a year of special stat-boosting item quests behind him, as well, making his character's stats, sans **HP** and **MP**, maxed out. True, that was before he came back to _'The World'_, and now the max stats had increased...but he should still be far stronger than a 'casual Lv. 99 PC.'

That meant one of two things. Either these three were cheaters of the lowest order (not quite as god-moding as Helba, but at least she never played dungeon quests,) or they were something much worse. Something that two of his three closest friends, the real 'Azure' knights of _'The World'_. had theorized about the black creatures.

The Cursed Wave. To be technical, Morgana, or three viruses created by her. This would mean she was still alive... somehow, someway, somewhere in _'The World'_ she was still aiming to destroy her 'daughter.'

And Aura was missing. She could very well have already succeeded. His eyes burned a reddish color as these thoughts entered his mind, though the numbers had vanished.

Yoh had barely roused Kaiba back into consciousness before he had to move to avoid being skewered. He instantly fused with Amidamaru, which was good; the next five seconds were a complete blur of silver streaks and sword clangings.

Kite had used a _Speed Charm_, true, but that took second in the meaning for his speed. He flew into attacks, wielding combinations famous in his P.v.P. fights for defeating even the two Azure Knights. Even if it was only a possibility the thought that Aura... this world's core, the most precious thing that existed in _'The World_,' was dead...

He was going to break the record for 'Most Brutal Player Kill.' Sora would never shut up about it, but he didn't care at the moment.

Meanwhile, Amidamaru and Yoh's mixed mind analyzed their own chances. Though they didn't know the world they were in was a game, they knew they might be in over their heads. Kite's speed was nearly impossible to follow, and they had seen for themselves a single attack would be fatal. They would have to risk an attack, one Kite couldn't expect... then they heard it in the corner, and Yoh grinned.

The samurai-styled warrior leapt into the air, missing ten consecutive slashes from Kite, who quickly looked up, and moved to follow...

His feet had barely left the ground when a giant burst of pure energy smashed into him, pushing him into a wall and continuing for several mind-numbingly painful seconds, the red number **3000** saying how great the damage had been.

Yoh sighed in relief as he landed, and grinned, waving at the blue-eyed, white-scaled dragon who swiftly vanished back into its card, and Kaiba fell on one knee, exhausted. "Note to self... don't summon after a half-minute nap..."

In the time it took Kite, twitching all the time, to regain his footing, Kaiba had healed himself, Joey, and Yoh, and guzzled an Ether to regain his energy.

"I think you'd better give it up, little guy..." Joey said, his anger contained at Yoh's request. Getting his back end handed to him by a guy of Yoh's height didn't sit well...at least Kaiba shared the sentiment. "Kaiba might whine about it draining him, but we can bring that bad girl back, this time with her two sisters at her side!"

Kaiba sighed at Yoh's confused look. "The Blue Eyes White Dragons are all female. I think it's the only reason they haven't eaten Wheeler yet... as much as a beg them to."

And now... they were even using summons that didn't exist. He doubted the red-armored one was bluffing, but he still HAD to win... there had to be a way. He gingerly raised his arms in front of him, and...

"_Phal Repth_!" The green number **9999** signified how much he had healed from that single spell. Taking advantage of their shock, he charged. Kaiba prepped the three dragons, and was about to summon them-

"What the heck's going on out here!" A loud, deep, annoyed voice demanded, echoing strongly in the room. Kite's eyes filled with shock and sudden fear, which made the slow 180 turn for the three heroes all the more tense.

"Oh. Crap." Joey summarized his and Yoh's thoughts. Yoh shook, the sight in front of him actually familiar.

The mural, in that dream...the one of the battle between an ordinary-looking man and a monstrous dragon-turtle...the humongous beast before them was that very creature.

Probably two heads taller than Kaiba, broader even than the Large Bodies they had fought in the Digital World, its front body yellow and scaley, with two legs supporting it like a pair of human ones. The shell on its back green, and coated with large yello spikes. A pair of horns on top of his head, with a long streak of flame-red hair. Large, humanoid eyes with several rows of teeth just below them, a long spiked tail on the other end, and two leather belts on each arm, one around its neck, with metal studs lining them. Finally, though it was thankfully absent in this scene, Yoh remembered the beast breathing fire in the mural.

The only thing that was different was the two long gashes across the right leg and left arm, both bright red and still healing. As it took a step forward, the monster winced in incredible pain, but stubbornly stood its ground. "Hey, Kite! Who are these three shrimps?"

"Bowser!" Kite gasped out, his voice filled with concern as he dashed between the other three to the giant. "You gotta sit down; those wounds are still healing! And these guys are really strong, they could-"

"What, you think they could beat ME?" The turtle now known as Bowser roared indignantly. "The great King Bowser Koopa, beaten by three kids? Did they hit your head, or something, kid?"

"Well... yeah, but..."

Bowser gently pushed his much smaller friend out of the way... which, translated into human proportions, nearly knocked him out. "If you three have a death wish, I DARE ya to take me on!"

He promptly fell to the ground, gripping his leg. "Ack, darnit! Lemme say that again..."

"Hold it!" Kaiba said suddenly, shocking them all. A look of realization was on his face. "I remember you... you were the one who invaded Princess Peach's castle during the last meeting our King had with her!"

"Pfff, like I remember everyone I've stepped on!"

"The princess's friend repelled your entire invasion force in a few seconds...you didn't step on anyone."

"WHAT? Why, you little.."

Yoh, Joey, and Kite sweatdropped. "Well...this is weird. And more than a bit confusing." The Twin Blade commented.

Yoh nodded. "Yeah...I know what you mean... you'd think I would be used to feeling like that by now..."

**XXXXX**

Eyes hidden from view, even if one's own eyes were right next to them, viewed the scene, and explanation that followed, with a slight amount of humor. As the events drew to a close, their owner knew what was going to happen. It was far to obvious to anyone who knew what had to happen, and had the open mind to look for it.

Regardless, it was going to happen if no one intervened. And since it helped in the long run, intervening would be idiotic. Without disturbing even the smallest bit of dust in the room, the unseen one left.

**00000**

"...I'm a what?"

"A Remnant." Kaiba repeated to the giant turtle, not noticing Kite pale at the word. "To put it simply, you're a survivor of a world that was destroyed by the Heartless. Why you survived when others did not is something that no science can explain, so I won't even try... and it's unlikely you're the only Remnant from the Mushroom Kingdom, given the strengths of some individuals in particular..."

Bowser merely glared, and turned to stare at the dirt-covered wall on to his right. "So, those black thingies really _did_ destroy the whole world."

"The Heartless, and yes." Kaiba answered tactlessly. "We confirmed the Mushroom Kindgom's destruction a few days before we left on this journey. The King was startled, to put it mildly... I think that may have been what made him choose to go."

"_**Like I care!**_" Bowser yelled, loudly enough to make them all jump...both out of surprise, and because the entire dungeon had shook. "Those annoying little things... right now, I think Mario'd be a _welcome_ sight next to those! At least HE only wanted to kick the shell out of me and save Peach whenever I took her, but those Heartless DESTROYED the world! How am I gonna take it over now?"

Yoh moved to answer, but didn;t get the chance. "That settles it; I'm gonna beat the crap out of those things, and all of you are going to help me!"

"Wha-"

"Onward, troops! To the Heartle-" A few steps into the chamber, and Bowser collapsed again.

Joey seemed to be at a loss. "... _sheesh_. Kaiba, I gotta admit, you don't look as egomaniacal anymore."

"What're we gonna do?" Yoh asked. "We can't just leave him here...but we literally CAN'T take him with us. At least not in the Gummi Ship..."

"True; he'd slow us down greatly." Kaiba agreed. "Let's play along until we get warp him into the Ship. When we find the Keyhole, we'll fly to Traverse Town and drop him off at the Clinic..."

"I... don't really understand what you're talking about... at least the 'different worlds' part... "Kite's voice said, and they turned to see the sheepish-looking fighter. "...but, if it'll help out _'The World_,' and it could get him to safety, I'd like to help."

Joey grinned, anger forgotten. "Trust us, kid, you're welcome. Years of experience tells us that former enemies can be the best allies, right, Kaiba?"

"Then again, we might just have the same amount of density on the ship if we leave Wheeler's head here..."

**0X0X0**

Chapter Posted: July 24th, 2005.

Next Chapter: Healing Items.


	7. Chapter 6: Healing Items

Myoga's Bios and Terminology. 

Remnants: Objects or persons who survived the destruction of their world, and wound up in another world; either one similar to their own, or Traverse Town.

**X0X0X**

The Emperor's urge to gawk increased at the sight of the library. Though not as large as some archives he had seen as Ken, there were thousands of titles he never knew existed on the first row alone. Even as he walked through, led by the somewhat disinterested Glyde, he noticed strange linings around the shelves that indicated secret passageways, possibly hiding even more books.

"Were these all taken from destroyed worlds?"

"Some of them, maybe, but most were here before the Heartless ever appeared, according to our ape of a leader... I'm not that interested in old literature, though."

The sound of a turning page caught the Emperor's attention, thinking it to be one of his new allies (one more interested than Glyde, to boot.) Instead, however, the person he saw was a nerdy-looking girl, slightly taller than him with long black hair, large round glasses, greatly overdressed in a large yellow coat. She was reading a book roughly as tall as she was from her table, with a slightly glazed look in her eyes.

"Who's she-" He started to ask, before Glyde promptly covered his mouth and pulled him back several steps.

"No idea." The taller man answered, releasing the outraged tyrant. "Apparantly she's a remnant from some world that was destroyed. Those who can tell say she has incredible power, and we originally thought she'd be a problem... but the second she reached the library, for some reason, she lost all interest in attacking us. Any Heartless we sent down here died within seconds of disturbing her, so Chimpy says it's better to just leave her be."

"I see... is there anything else interesting in this castle?"

"Besides the amazing view from any random point outside? Not a one." Glyde answered, grinning. "There are our private rooms, which I'm guessing are pretty unusual to the people who don't sleep in them, but I wouldn't try and go in one other than your own."

"Quite sound advice, Glyde. In fact, I believe that's the only thing intelligent I've heard you say so far.."

The Digimon Emperor blinked at the sight of someone his own height. "Who are _you_?"

**0X0X0**

Through much effort on their part, the group managed to push the oversized turtle up through the dungeon entrance. Though slightly cut from the spikes on his shell, and more than a little off-balanced from his many attempts to walk on his own (the resulting trips shaking the entire dungeon,) Yoh had to grin; it was easier, and more amusing, than Anna's demands would have been. "So, Bowser...what exactly did you do in your world, anyway? Kaiba's explanation was a bit vague, but we were all exhausted then, anyway.."

"Me?" The large one asked in an obviously fake expression of modest surprise. "Well... I was the King of all Koopas! Tyrant of all Turtles! Sovereign of all Shell-bearers!"

"Arranger of Annoying Aliteration?" Kaiba asked blandly.

"Hey, don't diss aliteration; it used to be big! Anyway, I had the average obligations of your basic ruler... management of state affairs, upholding of the law, making said laws, attempting to take over the adjacent kingdom, etc."

"Er, are ya sure about the last one?" Joey asked, disbelieving. "No offense, but it doesn't seem like an army of turtles would be a good invasion force-"

"HEY! Do YOUR ships have the strength to sail on lava... while they're made out of WOOD?"

"Er...no."

"So shut up! The Koopa invasion force is legendary for its tenacity and resilience! Our only problems were a race of annoying, all-consuming dinosaurs called Yoshis, and those two infernal plumbers; my eternal nemesis, Mario, and his brother... the green guy... Mr. Green, or something. I never could remember his name..."

"I remember meeting Mario at that conference. " Kaiba said, thinking back. "You couldn't have asked for a less assuming hero... but he was on par to our king as a fighter, from what I saw. It was amazing... on that note, did you attack because of the meeting, or-"

"Meeting? There was a meeting that day?" Bowser asked, confused. "Feh, well, whatever. No. I attacked because it had been roughly a week since the last time I kidnapped the princess! A WEEK! I couldn't let the Mushroom Kingdom think I was losing my edge!"

"So, in essence, this man named Mario defeats your entire army every week?" Amidamaru asked, slightly annoyed. "Who trains them, anyway?"

"A question I ask myself every day, humanoid Boo guy. And when I find them, they're dead."

Amidamaru clenched his teeth. "For the last time... I am not a 'Boo' of any sort, whatever one is."

Yoh chuckled. "Don't get too mad, Amidamaru. Since he can see you, he's probably a pretty decent guy deep down."

"_Decent_? How dare you!" Bowser roared, getting to his feet and wincing again. "I'm as bad as they come! I burn down trees and sell the ashes as counterfeit pavement! I pay my troops in...well... nothing, really. I'm not decent at all!"

At this, he fell again, and the other four had to jump out of the way to avoid being flattened. "Erk, stupid leg..."

As the dust cleared, they moved to help push him again, Kaiba starting to call the BEWGS on a wristwatch he had pulled out of nowhere. "It's been circling this world, so it'll take a few minutes to get back here..."

The area immediately darkened, followed swiftly by a loud clap of thunder. Joey groaned. "You just _had_ to say it, didn't ya?"

Dozens of purple flashes called Powerwilds, Soldiers, Green Requiems and Shadows around them. Kite dashed forward leaping into the air, actually jumping on top of the flying, bell-shaped creatures, slamming them to ground. Joey moved to finish them off, but had to jump to avoid a burst of flame. He turned to its source to see Bowser smirking. "Hey, who says I can't help?"

A leaping Shadow bumped into his leg, and the Koopa fell in pain. On top of a half-dozen Soldiers. Kaiba stared as the creatures vanished in their purple flashes of death, then cast a Blizzaga on a trio of Shadows. "Pretty impressive, for a turtle."

Kite and Yoh ran around the field, slashing Heartless with every step. Joey finished the last Green Requiem off with another boomerang-like shield toss. "Man, these things are annoying. They go down pretty quick, but there's way too many of em..."

The second set arrived. Four Large Bodies and three Powerwilds. Yoh fused with Amidamaru, and sent a large Celestial Slash across the field, wiping out the monkeys and sending the other four spiralling into the air. Kite pulled a sutra with green inking from his bag, throwing it toward the spot where the Bodies landed... and two incredibly big TREES appeared in midair, before pummeling the creatures out of existance, and disappearing.

"...well, that's all the proof I need that this world is a game." Kaiba muttered silently. "Even in Duel Monsters, trees don't act like that."

However, as the group prepared for a third set, something strange happened... the Field around them vanished, briefly replaced by pure static...and then reappeared as a large plateau, with an odd, orange sky. Kite's eyes widened as he looked around, fear evidant on his face. "This is... this the place where we fought the Phases!"

"The what?" Yoh asked, worried as he looked around, Keyblade ready.

"There were these eight creatures called Phases... it's hard to explain right now, but get ready; we might not be able to handle what shows up-"

On cue, it appeared. A vaguely human-shaped beast, with grey, abnormal flesh, faceless, taller even than Bowser. The Heartless insignia was emblazed on it's bare chest, as well as the large, red staff it held in its hands.

Kite didn't seem afraid anymore, come to think of it... now, he looked furious. "Skeith..."

And then, it moved. So fast it left images of itself behind it, coming behind them before they could turn. Yoh felt pain flood through him as the staff conected with his back, and he was suddenly flung into the air, all the way to the battlefield's other side.

Joey flung his shield... which bounced off of the creature named Skeith swirling like a frisbee into the void. He tried to grab a card from his pocket, but the staff struck before he could summon whatever he had grabbed.

Kaiba ducked to avoid his partner's flight path, then summoned a Blue Eyes, which caught Skeith off guard with a blast of White Lightning. Noting how the only effect it had was that it was pushing the monster back, Kaiba raced to his two partners, performing a Curaga. "Well, any bright ideas?"

"If I had any, they're halfway back to Traverse Town..." Joey muttered, rubbing his head. Yoh drowsily looked to the battle across the area; Kite was somehow blocking the staff with his knives, dodging whenever possible, sometimes even leaping onto the beast's shoulders to cut into its flesh, though it didn't seem to injure the creature at all. _'Strange...even that giant black thing felt pain when I struck it with that sword in my dream.. though, granted, in a dream I could_-'

He blinked as he realized his own thoughts. _'Sword? Waitasec... I remember choosing the shield! But... when I fought the monsters, I was holding some kind of sword... but I also remember holding a shield...how is that possible?_'

**00 Flashback 00**

_"Yoh-dono, you may not remember my name, but I am still your blade to wield."_

_"Play this song whenever you do so, as an offering to those worlds that could not be saved the same way... and your shamanic potentials shall be further unlocked. In this case, you can now summon your Furyoku."_

_"I'll explain the details when it's neccessary, but it's much more powerful than our integration..in fact, our integration is a cheap parlor trick by comparison. It's the true method of shaman battles..."_

**00 End Flashback 00**

_'Waitasec... my blade to wield... could it mean?_' "Amidamaru, how do I use my Furyoku?"

Though he appeared to be stunned, the spirit grinned. "You must put my spirit inside of something that represents me, in this case, a blade, instead of your own body. This will draw out your own power, creating an Oversoul, which will be much more powerful than Spirit Unity!"

"Got it!" Yoh said. "_Spirit Form_!"

As usual, Amidamaru appeared as a head-shaped ball of fire in his hands, but this time, he slammed it into his weapon instead of his chest. "_Into the Keyblade_!"

The Keybearer felt a pull in his chest for an instant, and then a blinding light erupted around him. When it passed, the Keyblade was suddenly covered in a glowing, bluish light, with a larger version of Amidamaru's spirit ball form around his head, complete with the red armguards...combined, so that they formed a shield. "A shield and sword combined..."

"LOOK OUT!" Kite's voice shouted from the sidelines. Yoh looked to see the grotesque creature racing toward him. Unprepared, Yoh started to leap, knowing another strike would send him into the strange void at the edge of this area...realizing he wasn't fast enough-

And a sound erupted through the world around them. The sound of something smashing into something incredibly solid, and breaking is, causing an almighty crunch. Bowser's eyes were shut hard as he fell to the ground from where he had leapt in front of Yoh.

For a few seconds, even Skeith appeared to be startled... then...

"_GRAND HALO BLADE_!" The next thing Yoh knew, as the anger he had summoned began to fade, he was standing in the space behind Skeith, with Kite staring at him, his face pale. And, with an eerie, echoing groan, the monster split in two, and vanished into thin air. As his Oversoul faded,the ground in front of him changed, revealing the shape of a keyhole. Yoh dimly pointed the Keyblade at it, launching a beam of light to lock the Keyhole... then, remembering Sheik's words, pulled out the Ocarina.

As soon as the six basic notes of the Song of Time had been played, he ran towards the spot where his newest friend lay, unconscious and bleeding, with Kaiba casting a contant stream of Curagas. "We have to help him! Kite, is there anything you can do?"

The Twin Blade turned away, releasing a pained sigh. "I've been trying to heal him since I found him.. The World's items can't help." His voice was shaky and straned, like he was about to cry, though his face seemed to be merely sad. Then again, this face was a program, only able to express itself so far...

"_Curaga! Curaga! Cura_-" Kaiba fell to his knees, struggling to breath. "Darnit... I can't..."

"I can help him." A new voice stated, causing them all to turn, weapons bared. For the second time, Sheik stood before them, unstartled at the fact they almost attacked him. "I cannot save his life, but I help him remain with you, so he can help you in anyway possible."

"What are you talking about?" Joey asked, sounding slightly angry. "How can he do that? You just said you can't stop him from dying..."

"Yoh." Sheik said, staring the young shaman in the eyes. "I had hoped to teach you this song another day, because I knew it would be neccessary... play these notes. This song helps the tormented spirits of the dead and near-dead...those with painful pasts, with grudges, or with the pure passion to continue existing... it heals their pains, and allows them to pass on... but still leave their mark on the world. This is the Song of Healing."

The harp played another three notes, and then repeated them, and Yoh did the same. This song was eerie, desperate... yet it had the same strange allure of the Song of Time...

There was another flash of light, this one a bright bronze... and Bowser dissapeared. What remained was what appeared to be a miniature version of his shell, just small enough to be a shield. Joey picked it up, noting it was surprisingly light. "Wow... we hardly knew the guy, but he gave his life to help us... so he bacame a shield..."

"Like heck I did!" Bowser's voice shouted loudly. The four heroes jumped back, looking wildly around (although Joey's was more panic-filled.) Bowser was standing in front of them, now only slightly taller than Kaiba... and transparent. "Yeesh... these guys wanna save the world? If they'd replace Mario, I'd be ruling the Mushroom Kingdom by nightfall!"

"Like I said, this song ALLOWS people to pass on, and leave their tormented forms... but when they actually leave is up to them. As a spirit, I believe Bowser would be much more helpful to you all... and transportable."

"Wouldja warn us before doing that, then?" Joey exclaimed, face red. "Man, I'm gonna have a heart attack before this is over..."

"Like I said before, with each Keyhole sealed, your shamanic potentials are increased." Sheik continued, ignoring Joey. "Yoh, although you cannot bring out your ultimate Oversoul without a certain item, your Furyoku from your previous life has returned in full. You can safely use your Oversoul without worry of running out, though I would still train to be able to use more Furyoku in a single Oversoul... you can always get stronger; remember that well."

"Thank you, Sheik!" Yoh said, grinning as he bowed in respect. "For both Bowser and this power!"

"The power came last time, actually." Sheik admitted, causing Yoh to tilt his head in confusion. "The first time you sealed a world, your potential was unlocked. This time, however, another among your group has had his abilities as a Shaman unlocked. He will come to realize it when it is needed, just as you did mere moments ago."

Kaiba and Joey glanced at each other, and then to their own hands. Obviously, neither of them had expected this, and neither felt any different, either.

"Until next time, Yoh Asakura... keep your heart strong, and your feelings controlled. Though rage can strengthen your Oversoul, it weakens your focus... and there is another form of power within you, one that will be more fully unlocked when you seal a fourth world... " Sheik said, before throwing something on the ground and vanishing in another flash.

**XXXXX**

In the dimly lit room, another meeting commenced. This time, only three were there to discuss the transpiring events, but the tension and malice remained.

"What lead the Heartless to that strange world?" The old man, asked, puzzled. "It seems odd they would cling to worlds of data so frequently..."

"The Heartless are attracted by negative emotions...fear, rage, hatred..." The apparant leader said, hidden once again in the shadows. "Small pieces of a massive entity are scattered throughout that dimension, an entity whose sole purpose was to die...and fought to survive through betrayal and cowardice."

"Regardless, things are now more complicated than before. Two worlds have been sealed from us; large worlds where the Heartless could have thrived before devouring the hearts." Yggdrasill informed, his glowing wings identifying him.

"Yes, that is true... but it doesn't matter." The leader smirked. "For our ultimate goal will connect us to the hearts of every world... and we almost have all the 'keys' neccessary. Speaking of which.."

From the other side of the room, near the door, someone nodded, before leaving through the massive doors, his destination unmentioned...

**00000**

"Bowser, I'm sorry I wasn't able to heal you, but I hope you do okay with these guys." Kite said apologetically to the spirit of his large friend. "Well, I mean...as okay as you can...since, well..."

"Quit while you're ahead, kid." Bowser said, laughing in a loud, semi-villianous way. "I have enough stammered apologies to deal with when my world comes back."

Yoh shook Kite's hand, his goofy smile still there. "Thanks for the help... but try and trust people a bit more. You'll wind up with less bumps on the head, that way."

"Thanks..." The thief-like fighter mumbled. "Meh, Balmung'll never let me live this down..."

Meanwhile, Joey was still concerned about the fact that he might have a new power, yet he didn't know how to use it. While Kaiba was, as well, he was more worried about the lack of supplies they currently had. "We need to head back to Traverse Town to stock up. While we're there I should probably try and get one of those new Warp-G Gummi blocks..."

"What?" Joey gasped, forgetting his other problem. "You didn't install a warp engine on that thing? That means we have to go all the way back the normal way!"

"I know that." Kaiba snarled. "But I couldn't figure out where to put the block, and still have the ship look like a Blue Eyes White-"

Before Joey could complete the lunging strike, his new shield's spike end in front, the three heroes and two spirits were warped to their ship.

**00000**

Next time: Musings of Power.

Chapter Posted: September 5th, 2005.


	8. Chapter 8: Musings of Power

Myoga's Bios and Terminology

King Bowser Koopa - The exact date which marked the war between the Koopas and the denizens of the Mushroom Kingdom is uncertain. However, the date at which this one-sided war flipped over is certain; when Mario Mario and Luigi Mario first appeared. Bowser has made these two his mortal enemies...though Luigi, well, not so much. This big guy has a soft side, but it's usually hidden behind his attempts at being villianous. He WILL go down in history, however, as the most tenacious and unrelenting video game villian of them all! He first started breathing fire (mostly just hot air, though) in Super Mario Bros. (N.E.S.)

Kite - An ordinary teenager was invited to 'The World' by his friend, who was already famous in the game. However, the new player soon became entangled in a long, arduous journey to save him, as well as others, when the game became much more real. Kite first Data Drained our free time in the first four-part series of .hack games, beginning with .hack/INFECTION. (PS2)

XXXXX

"I've been told you wish to see more interesting things around the castle." His host stated, once again wearing the strange white baboon pelt. "Understandable. But I thought you would be more interested in taking a role in our plans by now..."

"Let's just say I'm bored... and Glyde was starting to annoy me." The Digimon Emperor explained.

The figure chuckled. "I repeat; understandable."

The man opened an old, wooden door to the side that the Emperor hadn't seen before, (although, in retrospect, it might not have been visible before,) and led him inside. Seeing the new heat signatures within from his glasses, and recognizing the interior structure of the room, the cruel youth grinned.

"A hidden dungeon? Nice touch."

"A dungeon? Hardly." The man laughed again, surprising the younger one. "Dungeons imply the detainment of dangerous individuals. This is more of a... gallery."

Re-checking his readings, the tyrant frowned, unconvinced. "You keep prisoners as trophies?"

The disguised one sighed. "A 'prisoner,' on the other hand, implies a sentient being, one capable of making intelligent decisions, and able to use reason..."

Exactly what the brainwave patterns suggested... for the most part. As he followed his leader down a stank, dirty hallway, the Emperor heard another dark chuckle. "This is where we keep interesting animals we encounter, before destroying their worlds."

"Animals? More than half of these signatures are humanoid!"

Beneath his mask, the dark man smirked. "Allow me to teach you the difference, then, between what you consider 'human,' and what we keep in here..."

The hallway branched into several rooms which were all blocked by a series of strange, glowing bars. As the Emperor moved close to one, which was so heavily barred he could only see a small hole, a howl came from within, and he leapt back to avoid what came out.

It was a human arm, save for the crooked, clawlike fingers, covered in a tattered orange sleeve. His glasses picked up a staggering amount of energy surrounding the arm alone, while the room within was practically coated with it. If he hadn't evaded it, he felt sure his own arm would've peen pulled back in.

"W...what was THAT!"

"A gigantic, multi-tailed fox." The baboon said, his voice restraining another laugh. "It only looks human on the outside due to certain circumstances."

The arm retreated, and slow, feral growls began within, the sound of a short figure pacing around on all fours echoing from the cell. The Emperor shivered; it was much different to see that amount of force in something smaller than the Digimon he once commanded."

"He isn't the only one in here, either... many are animals, like him, but more obvious externally. For example, we have a disgusting cat-like beast halfway down the hall, and at the very end is a group of seemingly normal wolves. Three cells down from here on the right is another like him, although I must say that he's much more intimidating in both his true form and human appearance, but you'd expect that from dragons..."

"...what about the others, then?" The blue-haired one asked, sounding calm as was possible as he tracked indisputably human outlines. "Are they actually beasts, as well? I can't pick up anything unusual from a few of them."

The man smirked yet again, and turned around to reveal the only cell with normal bars, the sides of his cloak gesturing for the other to look. The Emperor only saw (even with his incredible eyewear) a human, slightly older than him, thin and covered with a ragged cloak. He felt another chill across his back as the prisoner glared at him, dark, fierce brown eyes evidant even at a distance.

"He is likely the most dangerous being in here, for he resides of his own free will. He has his goals, he has reason, he has more than enough intelligence, and he is a great deal more composed and self-controlled than most of the others... but I doubt these walls ever hold anyone capable of being a greater beast."

The man moved to stand beside the Emperor, looking into the cell himself. "I believe we'll have to let him out for exercise if the Keybearer ever reaches this castle... and I have a feeling he will. But don't fear him when that time comes; he will only harm those I tell him to... his reward depends on it. Care to see some of the others?"

He followed his leader towards more of the glowing bars, still feeling the glare from the boy behind him.

00000

The return trip to Traverse Town was a great deal shorter than the long flight to 'The World', considering Kaiba held the special accelerator the entire time. It also ended in a far harsher manner than Yoh would have liked, given the fact that instead of seeing Bowser trying to fit his full appearance into the cockpit he was suddenly face-down in the street, surrounded by gummi blocks. Painfully standing up, he turned around to see a large pile of white and blue blocks surrounding himself and his friends, as well as the Gummi Harbor they had 'landed' in. "What happened?"

Two new faces suddenly burst out of the pile, gasping for breath. One was dark-haired, wearing black and red, sporting a sheathed katana at his side, and the ther was blond, wearing white and blue, sporting a surprised but altogether unconcerned look. "See, Kuro-chu? I told you we should've told someone we'd be docking there. How will Mokona react when he hears the Gummi Ship designed after him is in a thousand pieces?"

Kuro-chu, as he was apparantly called, didn't seem to be quite so calm. "You were the one flying the damn thing! YOU were the one I told to do that flight plan thing! YOU WERE-"

"MY SHIP!" Kaiba had just pulled his foot out of the steering controls. He turned to the two, a highly insane look in his eyes. "I'LL KILL YOU!"

Still shaken, Yoh had to dodge as the two ran toward him, an enraged genius chasing after them. Joey sighed as shook his jacket out, dropping a few dozen gummis, and joined him. "It's not that big of a deal, actually... the guys in the harbor can rebuild it from his design in a few hours. Still, ya gotta pity those two when he catches them..."

"Yeah..." Yoh agreed. He looked around at the vaguely familiar town square. "So, what now?"

"Kaiba's brothers have the supplies, so we can leave those up to him... and we have an hour or two for the ship to get fixed..."

"So, basically just chill out? I haven't had a normal nap in the last few days... maybe I'll meet with Regal and the others first, though."

Suddenly seeming to remember something, Joey frowned. "Well, I got someone I need to check on.. so I guess I'll seeya later."

As he started walking away, Yoh sighed. A quick look around proved it yet again; the eternally night-shrouded city was nothing like his island. And in the three short days he'd been on this adventure there hadn't been a single clue to Anna's location, or Ren's, or anyone else from his home. Not only that, be added to it was the confusion of the abilities he'd suddenly developed, the fact that he was supposedly destined to try and save the universe from the Heartless, and the recent implications that something was wrong with his memory...

"Don't worry; it'll all work out!"

Instead of surprise as he heard those words, instead of turning to face some new mysterious thing, instead of even wondering where they had came from, Yoh suddenly felt... calm. No, more than that... it was the feeling he'd had his whole life until his world was destroyed; a sense of peace and carefree assurance that would be alright.

And then, he grinned. Because he somehow knew that it would. He headed for the inn Regal had taken him to on that first night, not concerned in the least that he didn't know how to get there.

00000

Mokuba Kaiba sighed deeply as he brushed the dust-covered floor of his co-owned shop. Noah had, once again, managed to evade the responsibility for the month, and (though Mokuba was more thankful than grieved because of it,) Rebecca had her other part-time job to deal with at this unholy hour. Tempted though he was to wonder how a child genius like her was working in a small, rundown shop like this, he remembered how much more pathetic it was to be richer than most continents and do the same thing, and left the subject alone.

Something out of the ordinary DID happen just then, though. A gruff voice outside yelled "Split up!" and a blonde-haired man in white clothing was literally thrown inside the shop, bouncing (yes, bouncing) from the railing of the stairs and getting caught in the fan above him. The greatly spiny-haired kid only had enough time to widen his eyes before someone else came in, though... someone recognizable. "SETO!"

The crazed look in his brother's eyes vanished, replaced by the normal, stoic expression he usually took. Descending the stairs, he looked around the otherwise empty place. "Buisiness same as usual?"

Mokuba grinned widely, running to his brother's side in time to avoid the falling stranger and fan. "Pretty much... in both our company and this dump. Miss Winry's accessory/Gummi shop is doing great, though."

Nodding, Kaiba took out a small list. "I'll need these in a few hours, and tell the Gummi mechanics not to mix up the angles on the wings this time. I also want you investigate a person named 'Hao' while I'm away." Mokuba nodded back, taking the list and leaving for the store's back rooms, and Kaiba directed his now heated glare to the one on the floor. Or at least, he would have, if the surprisingly unharmed stranger hadn't sprang to his feet and dashed out the door during the brief moment he wasn't being watched. Resisting the urge to growl, Kaiba ran after him.

00000

Rebecca Hawkings enjoyed her other part-time job, as dull as it was and as over-qualified as she was to be a receptionist. Due to the building being adjacent to her favorite stores, and the interesting files of its inhabitants, it beat studying and attempts at inventions any day. And, on some rare workdays, like today, she would even get to hold things over her friends' heads. "Welcome to the Traverse Remnant Hospital, rejuvenation center capitol of any world! How can I help you...Joey?"

Grimacing at her evil grin, Joey sighed. "Come on Rebecca, you know what I'm gonna ask... is Serenity in today?"

Straightening a few loose files on her desk, Rebecca continued her smirk. "I'm afraid Ms. Wheeler isn't here right now. She's spending some time at home, getting used to having a ward, etc."

Joey's eyebrows rose at that comment. "So, she finally 'adopted' a Remnant? I thought she said she wasn't going to..."

"Well, regardless of how truthful Serenity is with you -interests, boyfriends (Joey: WHAT!), choices- she met a certain Remnant whose case really seemed to affect her. The one in question is a nearly complete amnesiac, and has very... peculiar life signs."

Joey grinned. "Thanks, Rebecca... I'll just-"

"Work a few of my shifts at the Item Shop." She finished for him, re-straightening the papers. "Or I'll inform a few people of how you keep limiting efficiency by visiting one of our nurses all the time."

His grin died, and a glare took its place. "Kaiba creates enough excuses to mock me without using his buisinesses. Besides, he isn't even a real sponsor for the place, he just donates frequently!"

"I was actually referring to the Public Relations director."

Oh, crap. "F-fine! Once we find the King, I'll take a few days off and do your work, just don't get Mai angry at me again."

Rebecca giggled in fake innocence. "Thanks for visiting. Now scram."

"Kids..." The knight mumbled on his way out.

00000

Yoh's journey across Traverse Town was largely unsuccessful, as he had searched for the inn for roughly half an hour, and kept finding himself back in the town square. Exhausted, but still unconcerned, he went into the accessory shop, thinking Winry would be able to help... but the store was mostly empty. Although the register was unmanned, there was a single customer, or perhaps resident, on the couch in the back.

He had short blond hair, with a long, thin braid over his shoulder, and was wearing a simple white tunic, his eyes closed, legs crossed. From his face Yoh imagined they were around the same age, but judging from his physique he was several inches taller. His eyes opened as Yoh approached. "Welcome to the Accessory/Gummi Shop. Winry isn't in right now, so-"

"That's okay; I'm not here as a customer." Yoh said. "I just came to see if she could tell me where the inn is... I'm kinda lost."

The boy's eyes widened, and he stood to his feet. (Yoh was right; he had to tilt his head to see eye-to-eye with him) "Are you Yoh, the Keybearer?"

"That's what they've been calling me the past few days." He shook the taller one's hand.

"My name's Alphonse, Al for short." He introduced himself. "I'm usually here when I'm not training, or working in the Synthesis shop upstairs. Nice to meet you!"

Yoh grinned. "Same here! Are you Winry's brother? You two kinda look alike." Remembering his earlier mixup between Anna and Winry, he shivered at the thought, but noticed a sudden sad look on Al's face.

"N, Not really... though I DO think of her like an older sister, at times... actually, I was wondering if you could do something for me, since you're going to different worlds."

"Um...okay... what?"

Al suddenly looked determined. "I want you to look for someone named Edward Elric, who might be accompanied by a group of people following a man named Roy Mustang. Ed wears a long red coat, white gloves, has a braided ponytail..and, well..he's kinda...short." He mumbled the last word. "I don't have any munny, so I can't pay you beforehand, but I can make something really useful in exchange."

"No problem; I'll keep a look out for him. And I don't really need-"

"Equivalent exchange." Yoh stopped, staring at the serious expression. "You have to lose something to get something. That's how the world works."

"Uh...okay. I'll be sure to look hard for him, then." The shaman said, still slightly reluctant. "By the way, are you meditating? I've had to do that a few times, but it somehow...feels different."

Al smiled, looking calm again. "Sort of... and not really. It's kind of complicated, but I guess you could call it homework. And as for the 'feeling' of it... I can't tell you."

"Equivalent Exchange?" Yoh asked. Al nodded.

"Well, that and one other thing... it's dangerous for my master and I to reveal what we are. I'm sure you'll hear about it, eventually, but I can't trust you yet... sorry."

"It's alright." Yoh sighed. "To tell the truth, I'm starting to feel that way about myself..."

XXXXX

The Emperor read quietly in the library, careful of the girl still reading dutifully on the opposite side of the table, the morning's experience still fresh in his mind. He had seen several other specimens after the brown-haired boy, but as gruesome and truly powerful as they seemed, the feeling of dread from the seemingly normal one overpowered them. He remembered from his days as Ken that he had given others that sensation before, but he himself had never experienced it...

"Ah, so the youngest among us is a scholar?" A new voice asked. The Emperor closed his book and turned to face the newcomer, whose voice was dramatic in ways that made Glyde seem normal. He had to narrow his eyes apon seeing him, as well.

It was a man, judging by his lack of a shirt and muscular, nearly anorexically thin build, with a dark purple, trenchcoat that matched his hair, long black pants, and what looked like two slits in the jacket, likely for wings, if Yggdrasil had been any indication. The youth's overall impression was one of slight distrubance. "Who are you?"

"Ah, but of course, please pardon my lack of introduction." The man bowed flamboyantly. "I am Vyers, an aristocrat of the Netherworld, with both great power and beauty! They call moi the Dark Adonis!"

The Emperor's right eye twitched involuntarily. "Is that so?" His used his glasses to scan his new aquaintance, then, stunned, turned them off to avoid an explosion; he WAS powerful, with energy readings that dwarfed even their mysterious leader.

Grinning widely, revealing slightly over-large canines, Vyers moved to sit beside the girl. "Do not be concerned of my power, for I assure you I mean no harm to you, or any of our allies. I assume, as we have never met, you are the Digimon Emperor, no?"

"Yes.." He shifted uneasily. He wondered why he seemed unable to find the man untruthful. He could certainly find him disturbing, though.

"Good, good! It is always nice to meet new faces, even if they are untalkative. Take this lovely mademoiselle here; she lightens the mood of this dreary library by a great extent, yet has not uttered a word since she entered. And she looks simply adorable reading, as well! Though I wonder how she is still alive... it's been a month and she hasn't eaten or slept..."

He cleared his throat, stood up, and moved to leave. "By the way, young Emperor... I was wondering if you could bear to have a new name? I myself am frequently referred as something other than 'Vyers' or the 'Dark Adonis'... a dreadful name that disgusts me even to think about... but calling you the 'Digimon Emperor' at all times is a bit wordy, wouldn't you say?"

He had a point. "Fine... I suppose you could call me Kaiser, or something like that.."

"Really? Strange... after hearing your story from our rather distasteful host, I thought that something along the lines of 'Yami Ken' would work better."

The annoyance that 'Yami Ken' had felt earlier returned a hundredfold. "Fine. By the way, what is that other name you are called?"

"Mid-Boss." Was the answer, accompanied with a gag.

"Alright then. Nice meeting you, Mid-Boss."

Growling, Mid-Boss left, trying to ignore Yami Ken's smirk.

0X0X0

Chapter originally posted: October 15th, 2005.

Next time:An Empty World of Life. 


	9. Chapter 9: An Empty World of Life

A/N: I am VERY sorry for the wait, although I'll have to practically BEG for forgiveness from my YGO fans, let alone this fic's. On the plus side, I've been introduced to several new mangas and animes, and this chapter'll be a semi-preview for a side-story fanfic I have planned. 

And yes, you will soon notice that this chapter is fast, confusing, and less satisfying than it should be. The next chapter should be slow and interesting, though... and, for reasons you'll soon learn... filled with overdue bios at the start.

**00000**

The _B.E.W.G.S_. was as good as new, with only a few blocks absent, as though it hadn't been affected by the large crash a few hours prior. Though Joey had shown up looking dissapointed and frustrated, and Kaiba seemed downright homicidal as he told the dock handlers the descriptions of the two who had cut them off, Yoh's earlier lightheartedness had returned, only vaguely weaker with yet another assumed responsibility. "So, now that that's all settled, where to next?"

Kaiba seemed to calm down to his usual level of discontent. "There's a world we haven't been to in the opposite direction of how we went to the Digital World. Though, for a change, it isn't made of data, it won't exactly be a welcome place to travel. So our best bet is to take our original path back to The World, then continue onward."

Joey's mood, however, be came even worse with this news. "What? We just recovered from that cosmic 'coaster ride, and you want to try it again?" His eyes narrowed in suspisciousion. "You wouldn't be trying to beat the King's record for non-Warp Gummi Space travel, would you?"

"Of course not." Kaiba answered calmly, though Yoh noticed a slight twitch around his eyes as he did so. "But it's the only way. The Blue Eyes' Boost Gummis still need to be repaired, though, so we have a nice, long, nerve-wrenching drive ahead of us."

"Why not try that other planet, though?" Yoh asked, causing his comrades to stare in amazement. Though they still hadn't gotten to know each other very well, the two duelists would never have thought that Yoh would turn down the chance to slack off. "Why exactly is it unwelcome? If there're any clues to help you find your King, isn't it worth a try?"

Kaiba's amazement faded first, and he again resumed his frown. "Derris-Kharlan is a world made entirely out of an energy called mana, which you could think of as the 'blood' of some worlds, and the only surviving world of a set of three, which were connected by that mana's flow. It is barren and unpopulated, without any form of sentient life on the surface. I don't think it's too hard to figure out why we should avoid it."

Yoh thought for several moments. "Uhm... because of everything you just said?"

Joey facefaulted, Kaiba groaned. "Think about it; why would the Heartless destroy two worlds, but leave an undefended world remaining?"

Amidamaru reappeared, a dark expression on his face. "I would assume it's being used as base for the Heartless, correct?"

"Exactly. Out of every world discovered so far, Derris-Kharlan has one of the highest amounts of Heartless activity. It's likely that most, if not all, of the Heartless we've fought so far were dispatched from there. There are several other worlds with the same circumstances, and because we've had to monitor and occasionally defend against them, the origin world of the Heartless has never been found, if there even is one."

"Ah, I get it." Yoh stated, though much of it had obviously gone over his head. "But... doesn't that just make it more suspiscious? And if it's a Heartless hotspot, isn't there a chance the King could've gone there, looking for those report pages?"

Joey blinked. "Hey, that DOES sound like something the King would do! If he thought there'd be a page or two there, it wouldn't matter how many Heartless were in his way..."

"Sad, but true." Kaiba agreed. "Old habits are hard to break, and he DID always help you out of situations only an idiot would get into."

Joey glared, but continued. "Still... the King going there and US going there are two different things... no offense, Yoh, but you seem to collapse more often than 'ya eat. And we still don't understand everything about those powers that Sheik guy supposedly gave us, so we might just be heading on a suicide mission..."

It was Yoh's turn to be surprised. For all of Kaiba's quips, Joey seemed to have a fairly strategic mind... then again, he supposed, a Captain of the Guard for someone as powerful as they described their King to be HAD to be more than he seemed. "Is your King really that strong?"

"You have _no_ idea." Joey nodded and Kaiba sighed simultaneously.

"But if he DID go there, and hasn't come back, that might mean he's been captured, or he's been forced into hiding there. Whichever way you look at it, it seems this Kharlan place is where we need to go."

Kaiba smirked grimly. "Unfortunately for us, getting there is almost as much of a problem as surviving on the surface. While the Blue Eyes is far beyond any other single Gummi Ship in power, the Heartless have several dozen armadas in orbit around the world. And thanks to those idiots from earlier, we can't boost our way through."

"Then perhaps we could make it up to you, Mr. Psycho Mage?"

The trio turned, Kaiba's expression turning to one of fury, to see the two from earlier, this time with a third standing between them. Yoh felt nervous around this newcomer; he seemed to be a year or two older than him, with brown hair and eyes, a brownish-green traveler's cloak wrapped around him, slightly taller than him, and with what was arguably the second-most serious look in his eyes that Yoh had ever seen. The boy sighed after glancing toward the blond-haired, white-clothed man, who had obviously made the 'psycho mage' comment.

"We're sorry for what happened earlier, and I admit its my fault for not filling out the paperwork myself. We know of a few people who could help you past that defense force, and we at least owe you that much." His voice was polite and sincere, with a patience that sounded incredibly strong. Yoh briefly wondered how often he'd had to apologize for his friends' sakes.

"Agreed." Kaiba said quickly, anger evident in his voice. "Although that still doesn't cover a few other costs.."

"We don't have any munny, but I promise to help in any way I can." He nodded. "Follow me... and feel free to keep your weapons out if you think it's a trap."

As all six moved to enter a nearby alley, the boy turned once more, a warmer smile on his face. "By the way... my name's Syaoran."

"Kurogane." The tallest one robed in black added.

"Fai D. Flowright, at your service." The blond finished.

As the Keybearer and his friends introduced themselves, they had no idea how hectic this chance meeting would make their lives...

**00X00**

To be honest, Kaiba had no idea how they'd wound up here. One second they were just barely into the alleyway, and now they found themselves in a large room, octagonal-shaped, dimly lit by a pair of lamps on a buisiness desk. Seated behind it was a man who seemed the definition of average; from the length of his black hair to his height and build, the only extravagant things were the black, priest-like robes he wore and the exceptionally eerie smile on his face.

"Ah, you must be the ones we've heard so much about." He said, a seemingly sincere smile on his face. "My name is Xelloss, leader of the anti-Heartless organization, Secret."

The responses were simultaneous.

"Never heard of ya."

"A '_Secret_' organization. How original."

"You've heard of us?"

"In reverse order: yes, I agree, and thankfully you're not alone." He replied. "I started this formerly small group when my world was destroyed, and though we've managed to elude the public eye, we've been responsible for the safety of many worlds out of Traverse Town's normal range."

Kaiba's frown deepened. "And you're suddenly letting us know about you just so we can get a ride. How... conveniant."

Xelloss grinned. "I understand, Mr. Kaiba. You probably want to know exactly WHY I thought to offer you aid... the mere assumption that we want the prophesized hero on our side is a bit weak.

"I'll go a bit more in-depth, then. Secret's primary function is destroying any Heartless that appears on a world, while finding and arranging more permanant modes of defense around the world's Keyhole."

"In other words, illegally introducing the existance of other worlds." Joey said, suddenly angry. "Those non-interference laws are there for a reason, yunno!"

"Indeed: They make great excuses for your government to not spend resources for the sake of others." Xeloss nodded, riling the two palace employees up even more. "That aside, I am using resources gained through my own buisiness to fund this organization's work, and I truly care little for the ethics of it."

"And what, may I ask, is you 'buisiness?'" Kaiba demanded.

"_That... is a secret_." Xelloss wagged his index finger as if telling off a child. Even Yoh was starting to get annoyed. "Back to the explanation... whenever possible, Secret attempts to recruit powerful individuals from the worlds we protect, and in doing so are able to do more for other worlds, gain power and resources, and, of course, the most important of all... forge bonds of friendships between the worlds. Like it or not, we ARE all in this together, after all."

Xelloss ignored the sarcastic coughing from Kurogane's area, and continued. "Thanks to our more... technologically-based members, the Secret lab has both the ship and the pilot guaranteed to get you through ten Derris-Kharlans. In exchange for keeping our existance 'secret' for the time-being, and for agreeing to two other conditions, we are willing to aid you. Interested?"

'Two conditions? He certainly doesn't seem worried we'll refuse... unfortunately, we can't, regardless.' Kaiba thought. "Name them."

"1. Someone from my old world, who I would VERY much like to meet again, is imprisoned on that world. If you agree to free her and bring her here, we will guarantee you a safe ride there."

"No problems with that." Yoh said, hero's instincts kicking in. "The other?"

"2. Whether or not your mission is successful, if you survive, I want an un-revokable promise that you will aid us in a mission we have scheduled in a few months. It has a minimal chance of success and cannot be held off any longer than the date we've calculated."

The trio glanced at each other, with a smile, a glare, and a sigh, and nodded. "Agreed."

"Perfect." Xelloss clapped loudly once, startling them. "If you leave the way you came, you'll wind up in the lab. Ask for the Chief. As for you three... " He gestured to Syaoran and the other two, pulling up a large stack of papers. "..make sure Sakura sees these as well; the next world you're assigned to won't be as simple as the last one... "

**00000**

Once again, they'd somehow wound up somewhere completely different. It was much brighter and filled with long workbenches, upon which several people with oddly blank expressions worked on strange machines. Each and every one of them had the same weird aura.. as if it was recently there, and unnatural.

"Mechas..." Joey breathed, sounding nervous. "Suddenly it makes sense why he really keeps this place '_secret_.'"

"Mechas?" You inquired. He was surprised to see an uncomfortable expression on Kaiba's face.

"Well... when non-living things have personalities, and somehow wind up as Remnants of their worlds, they adopt humanoid appearances. Since most of these are robots, the term Mecha is used... but unlike most Remnants, who are injured or comatose when found, they seem to take to being 'human' too easily, and attempt to blend into society." He looked away. "They... aren't well-liked."

"Sad, but true. You three must be the Keybearer and his allies. " A new voice agreed. They turned to meet yet another new person...and gaped.

He was tall...taller and possibly more built than Kurogane was, wearing a large red jacket over a white muscle shirt, with blue jeans and shoes that looked like they were half steel. He wasn't perticularly ominous, however... his face and warm, yellow eyes were gentle, with an almost paternal look. His metallic blue hair was shortly cropped, and what could be described as a one-hand rifle was safely holstered at his side.

"Um, are you the Chief? Xelloss sent us." Yoh asked. With a soft chuckle that furthered thoughts of being attacked from their minds, the tall Mecha shook his head.

"I'm afraid not, although I'd like to be called that again... it seems like it's been so long..." He sighed meaninfully, before shaking his head and addressing them once more. "My name is Optimus Prime, Field Commander of the Secret Space Defense Force. I work here under the Chief whenever I can; advanced weaponry is my specialty."

He pressed a button on his wristwatch. "He'll be along in less than a minute, unless he gets distracted..." He grinned sheepishly. "...which is what I just did, I guess... see you around."

He walked off without another word, leaving Yoh grinning as well. "I don't see what's not to like."

"That's because you're lucky enough to not see many things." Kaiba said quietly.

**XX0XX**

At that same moment, on a cold world, almost void of life, a hand twitched, and a smirk formed. Though her cell was completely dark, the mere fact that she was conscious was all the light she needed to feel confidant again... that, and another source of light, which her would-be captors hadn't taken when she was locked up.

All she needed was time... but she was going to get much more help than that, soon enough.

**00X00**

Perhaps it was the fact that the Gummi Ship was built like a bright pink sports car with too many spikes.

Perhaps it was because the driver, with white-streaked orange hair and a purple and white uniform, was grinning like a madman as he examined it.

Whatever the reasons for his feeling faint at the thought of his future, nothing topped the fact that Kaiba had to look down to see the Chief...because he only came up toYoh's chest.

He looked to be between 5 and 8, with silver hair, a blue t-shirt with white shorts, roller blade-equipped shoes, and multi-colored eyes, his right red, his left blue. He smiled widely as he shook Yoh's hand. then rolled back a few spaces to bow before introducing himself.

"Welcome to Secret, Mr. Asakura, Mr. Wheeler, and General Kaiba. Allow me to introduce myself; I'm Secret Chief Technician and Repair Manager, Artoo Detoo. Formerly an R2 astromech unit, I have been in service for more than 40 standard years, with minimal problems, a 98 percent satisfaction rate from my owners. It's a pleasure to make your aquaintance."

There was a short pause, before Yoh attempted to start a greeting, but Artoo continued. "Unfortunately we have little time to introduce ourselves; the timeframe when Derris Kharlan's defense fleet is the thinnest will be over in five minutes, so you need to hurry."

The next instant, a purple and white blur ran into them, and they found themselves strapped securely into the ship's seats.

"_Ugh_...so much... scene changing..."

Yoh picked the speaker off of his fang necklace. "_Myoga_! Where've you been? Those bios haven't been updated recently..."

"I must again comment on how safe your headphones are, Master Yoh, but they do make writing a bit diff-"

"Attention, highly confused heroes!" Their driver said after reappearing from the blur. "Name's Straight Cougar, and like the boss-bot said, there's no time for more detail. I SHOULD warn you, though...aside from the gas, wheel, and turbo boosts, I have no freaking clue how to drive this thing."

"_WHA_-"

**ZOOM.**

Yoh could faintly tell they were back in space, and the vehicle was going about ten times as fast as the BEWGS. And that the pilot was saying something.

"_**INCREDIBLE!TheytoldmeitwouldbefastbutIhadNOIDEAthiswaswhattheymeant!Thebeauty!Therapture!TheSPEED!Whowould'vethoughtI'deverfindafasterridethanmyAlter?IhaftawarnyouguysrightnowIdon'tcareHOWthisdriveendsbecauseMYLIFEISCOMPLETE**_!"

Finally deciding that understanding the day's events was too hard, Yoh tried to blank out again, dissapointed when he found it was impossible.

**XXXXX**

Chapter Originally Uploaded: January 26th, 2006.


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